More Oregonians had their electricity or natural gas disconnected by the state’s top investor-owned utilities last year than in the previous year, according to reports filed by the utilities with the state.
Pacific Power, Portland General Electric and NW Natural cut off service to more than 69,000 households in 2025, up from 67,000 the year before, the data shows.
Pacific Power and NW Natural disconnected more people in 2025 than the previous year, while PGE saw a small drop in disconnections.
More than a third of the individuals and families who had their power or gas shut off last year were low‑income households, earning well below the state median income, according to the reports filed with the Oregon Public Utility Commission. For a family of four in Oregon, that’s about $73,000 a year.
The increase in power shutoffs comes despite expanded protections imposed by the commission, including disconnection moratoriums, that are meant to safeguard vulnerable customers in the state.
Most of the disconnections occurred in the months when moratoriums were not in effect but NW Natural violated the winter shutoff moratorium set in response to the government shutdown, disconnecting nearly 200 households between Nov. 15 and Dec. 31 last year.
The error was discovered by the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, a nonprofit watchdog organization that advocates for customers. The board said it marks the first time a utility in Oregon has disconnected customers during a moratorium.
NW Natural’s spokesperson David Roy confirmed the company had mistakenly disconnected 198 households in Oregon during the moratorium period. It happened because of “internal miscommunication, according to testimony filed by the board with the utility commission.
Most of the customers were back online within a couple of days, Roy said. NW Natural waived or refunded reconnect fees, provided an additional $150 bill credit and offered extended payment plans to the affected customers.
“This mistake was ours, and it was a mistake,” Roy said. “We made every customer whole as soon as we were aware of the issue.”
Charlotte Shuff, the board’s spokesperson, said even a small number of shutoffs in the middle of winter can have devastating impacts on families.
“We need to be able to trust our utilities when they make promises like this and NW Natural very clearly betrayed this trust,” Shuff said.
According to customer data that NW Natural provided to the board, at least 20 households went without gas for three to 13 days and just under a dozen families were disconnected for two weeks or more. One household remained disconnected for 43 days and had to pay $573 to reconnect while another family went without gas for 50 days even though it was only $54 past due, according to the testimony filed by the board.
Utilities last year were subject to two temporary shutoff moratoriums. One, prompted by rising concerns over energy insecurity, ran from January through March and applied to customers enrolled in bill discount programs served by PGE and Pacific Power.
Another – prompted by legislators’ concerns over the pause of energy assistance during a government shutdown – went into effect from mid‑November through December, covering bill discount participants and medically vulnerable customers served by PGE, Pacific Power and NW Natural. It was voluntary but all five for-profit utilities in Oregon pledged to pause all disconnections for the two customer groups.
The Citizens’ Utility Board is now asking the commission for a $10,000 penalty for each of the 198 households affected by the NW Natural mistake. Board officials said regulators should conduct an audit of NW Natural’s customer service and information systems to ensure the violation does not repeat.
Public Utility Commission spokesperson Kandi Young did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the error or the board’s request for penalties.
Utility shutoff moratoriums are still relatively new in Oregon. The state’s first broad moratorium was put in place during the COVID‑19 pandemic in 2020. Since then, utility rates have skyrocketed and disconnections have gone up.
Although Oregon’s investor‑owned utilities launched bill discount programs in 2022 – and have expanded them since then – consumer advocates said the relief has largely been erased by repeated rate hikes and rising costs of living.
Over the past year, state regulators adopted enhanced rules to limit when utilities can shut off power for past due bills, limiting disconnections during extreme heat, extreme cold and very poor air quality periods.
Regulators also adopted rules requiring utilities to better notify customers of shutoff protections and eliminate most reconnection fees for customers who receive bill discounts and those with medical certificates, among others.
Here’s how many people were disconnected in 2025 by each utility:
- PGE: 33,764
- Pacific Power: 23,224
- NW Natural: 12,363
- Avista Gas: 863
- Idaho Power: 558
- Cascade Natural Gas: 418
