Most Oregonians are unfairly subsidizing data center energy bills in their own energy bills. At the same time, data centers are making it more difficult to meet emissions reductions requirements in Oregon, while also threatening our shared grid’s ability to power through really hot and cold days, and other extreme weather. This impacts our wallets, our health and safety, and our future.

In 2025, Oregon passed the POWER Act - Protecting Oregonians with Energy Responsibility (HB 3546). This bill sought to protect families from energy costs caused by data centers, ensuring data centers pay their fair share in for-profit electric utility territories in Oregon. This is a huge and important step forward, and still we are facing other headwinds.

Sarah will give an overview of how we got here–including a focus on growing energy unaffordability and the energy insecurity that comes with that, how we are seeking to solve the problems before us, and what opportunities we might have to address the other energy-related risks that are coming with data centers.

This event is coordinated and hosted by Critical AI Literacy Faculty Fellow, Dr. Anna Guasco. 

This event is sponsored by the AI Literacy Center. Funding was provided by the Libraries' Gray Family Fund.

About the speaker: Sarah Wochele

Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board

Sarah Wochele (she/her) is the great-granddaughter and granddaughter of hardworking Polish immigrants who labored in Pennsylvania coal mines, coke plants, factories & the HVAC industry. She has a background in community organizing, policy research/analysis, and social work. Prior to joining Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board (CUB), she was a community organizer focused on climate and mining justice in rural and urban areas in Pennsylvania and Nevada. At CUB she primarily works on low-income advocacy and energy equity opportunities at the Oregon Public Utility Commission. In 2025, she led efforts in Oregon to pass the POWER Act (HB 3546). She is committed to working with impacted communities and other advocates to help bridge policy-making gaps that often exist between decision-makers, organizers, and communities. When she is not fighting for energy justice she loves to read memoirs and historical fiction, and is learning to sew!

Image credit: Sinem Görücü / Better Images of AI / Creative Commons