Portland General Electric : PGE distributes more than $57 million in fee payments to city governments

May 17, 2016

Portland, Ore. - Portland General Electric recently presented more than $57 million in payments to 52 Oregon cities located within the company's service area for 2016. 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 can help play a significant role in assisting city's general funding budgets,' said Dave Robertson, PGE's vice president of public policy. 'This is an important way for PGE to support the economic growth in the communities where we live and work, and PGE's support of a healthy economy helps to improve city services as we work to provide customers with safe and reliable power.'

The amount PGE typically pays a city ranges from 3.5 to 5 percent of the annual gross revenue 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.