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Portland General Electric

Engaged employer

Becoming unstable quickly - at least for Salary Employees - Anonymous Employee Portland General Electric Employee Review

2.0
12 Nov 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Average industry salary, benefits, and some flexibility for Salary employees. All things considered, I am grateful to work here, as it really is better than most non-tech companies. My team is wonderful, and my manager is top-notch. I love the work, I just wish the company would stop playing games with the stability (job), and would focus CAC cuts where they really belong- on the operations side of this business. The union has a strangle-hold on this place. I will illustrate below:

Cons

Recent instability- wondering whether this job will be cut in the CAC new year (for Non-union folks). There's huge disparity between engineering and CBA employees. Union Technician (Head)-(SCADA, COMMS, MR, Special Tester): $78.61 currently (2025), slated to rise to $84.11 (2026)- that's 7% raise. They received 45 in 2024, 6% in 2025, 7% in 2026, and another 6% in 2027. All OT is a minimum of double time, and it goes up on the hourly increment. The same career level (Principal Engineer) in these crafts have a midrange salary of $171200. This sounds good, but realize that the company moves the range to match the market, but doesn't change the pay of current employee into the new range. For example, if you were hired a few years ago when the midrange was $145k, and it moves to $160k, the company still only gives you a 3% cola, moving you to 145 + 3%. They do not adjust to the market for current employees at all- only COLA. By the time you pay the increased insurance premiums, the raise is a wash. This has left many of us under the pay range of hourly employees that we are supposed to be SMEs for. No OT for us. They have a PPO Health option that is covered 90/10, and the CDHP that's offered to salary employees is paid entirely by the company. Salary folks will pay $230 per check (bi-weekly x26) in 2026. They also get more in their HSA than we do (if they elect CDHP). Our retirement is pretty solid- there's get's an additional 1%. Union folks drive company vehicles home, and their pay begins when they start the engine in their driveway, then stops when they park in their driveway. We commute to various PDX locations on our dime, in our personal vehicles, including site visits that cover paid mileage, minus our normal commute. We all get a power discount- they dropped it from 25% to 15%. For the first time in history, we are losing folks to the only other adjacent utility. PGE used to be a funny acronym for "PPLs Good Employee". It's starting to go the other way.

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Portland General Electric Response
6mo
Thank you for sharing your perspective and for your years of service at PGE. We’re glad to hear you value your team, your manager, and the meaningful work you do, that’s something we strive to make consistent across the company. We understand that stability and pay equity are important concerns, and we take this feedback seriously. While we can’t comment on individual compensation decisions, we regularly review our pay practices and pay equity to ensure they remain competitive and fair. We also want to highlight some of the benefits and opportunities available to all employees. Our retirement program is among the strongest in the industry, with a 6% automatic company contribution plus a 100% match on up to another 6%—that’s up to 18% toward your future. We are also committed to career growth: 73% of our leaders were promoted internally, and we continue to invest in development programs to support advancement. Beyond compensation, our focus on customer affordability is part of a broader effort to align our work with long-term sustainability, and we deeply value the contributions of everyone who helps move that mission forward. Your feedback helps us improve, and we would welcome the opportunity to learn more about your concerns and any specific suggestions you might have. Please reach out to our HR department directly at 503-464-7250 if you would like to have a more in-depth conversation. You can also report your observations confidentially online to Ethics Point https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/media/en/gui/7710/index.html at any time or by calling their hotline at 866-384-4277. This website and hotline are managed by a third-party vendor. Thank you for being part of PGE and for the work you do to keep our system strong. -Sequoia

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Pros

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Cons

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