Portland, Ore. – Portland General Electric recently presented $61 million in payments to 51 Oregon cities located within the company’s service area for 2018. The payments represent money from annual franchise fees and privilege taxes PGE pays city governments for the right to operate within their municipalities.
“Franchise fees and privilege taxes often play a critical role in city budgets,” said Dave Robertson, PGE’s vice president of public policy. “Oregon is our home and we want to support the communities where we live and work. This is another important way for PGE to support city services while providing our customers with safe, reliable, clean and affordable power.”
The amount PGE pays a city historically has ranged from 3.5 to 5 percent of the annual gross revenue PGE earned within that city. Individual city results will vary based on a variety factors, such as local changes to population, economic and business conditions, and participation by some non-residential customers in Oregon’s electricity direct access program. PGE and the city work closely together to plan work in the right-of-way to minimize inconvenience to the public and keep costs down for both parties.