What is self-direction; who is eligible to self-direct?
Oregon law requires customers of Portland General Electric and Pacific Power to pay a three percent public purpose charge. Under its agreement with the Oregon Public Utility Commission, Energy Trust receives and invests some of the funds generated by the public purpose charge to support energy-efficiency projects and assist with the above market costs of new renewable resources. Find out more information about Energy Trust. Although the payment of the public purpose charge is generally mandatory, certain large electricity consumers (over 1 average megawatt or 8,760,000 kilowatt hours a year) may be eligible to “self-direct” portions of their public purpose charge payments to fund Oregon Department of Energy-certified expenditures at their own facilities. Self-direction is optional, and over time, an entity may change its self-direct status. For more information about self-direction, see Oregon Department of Energy’s website.
