A labor dispute involving the workers responsible for maintaining a vast portion of Eastern Oregon’s electrical network has moved onto the picket line, placing Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative in the unusual position of managing an active employee strike while simultaneously pursuing a $154 million expansion of its utility system.
Approximately 35 employees of Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative, including lineworkers, began striking at 9 a.m. Monday, August 24. The employees are represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 125, which has characterized the walkout as an unfair labor practices strike. Roughly 40 OTEC employees are represented by the union across the cooperative’s operating districts.
The strike reaches well beyond a disagreement between an employer and its workforce. OTEC is a member owned, nonprofit electric cooperative serving approximately 23,000 members and nearly 60,000 residents across Baker, Grant, Harney and Union counties. Its electrical infrastructure stretches across a large and sparsely populated section of Oregon where utility crews maintain distribution systems, restore service following outages and respond to electrical emergencies over considerable distances.
OTEC activated a contingency plan when represented employees walked off the job Monday. The cooperative has reported that its offices remain open and that staff continue handling billing, payments and new service requests. Safety and outage response have been designated as operational priorities, while some nonemergency work may require additional time during the strike.
No widespread electrical service disruption attributable to the walkout had been reported as of Tuesday morning.
The labor conflict developed during months of negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement and includes disagreements involving wages, working conditions, after hours responsibilities and employee discipline.
A central issue concerns OTEC’s handling of after hours emergency response requirements. Union representatives contend that working conditions were changed without appropriate bargaining when employees were expected to respond to outages or emergencies during periods when they were not formally assigned and compensated for standby duty. The union also alleges that employees subsequently faced disciplinary consequences related to those requirements.
The dispute intensified following the termination of longtime La Grande lineworker Tom Higgins, who had worked for OTEC for approximately 24 years. Another employee, Tad McCrae, reportedly received disciplinary letters connected with the disputed policy. The union has sought Higgins’ reinstatement and challenged disciplinary actions associated with the after hours requirements.
Those allegations have not been established as violations of federal labor law through a publicly identified ruling by the National Labor Relations Board. Although the union describes the walkout as an unfair labor practices strike, that terminology reflects the union’s position in the dispute and should not be interpreted as a federal determination that OTEC violated the National Labor Relations Act.
OTEC and IBEW Local 125 have an established collective bargaining relationship, including previous proceedings involving the cooperative before the National Labor Relations Board. The current disagreement, however, centers on the negotiations and employment practices preceding this week’s strike.
Compensation is another component of the negotiations. Union employees have sought a three year wage package that reportedly includes increases of 5 percent for 2026, 6 percent for 2027 and another 6 percent for 2028, with the 2026 adjustment applied retroactively to the expiration of the previous agreement. An earlier contract proposal was rejected by union membership by a reported vote of 34 to 3.
The union maintains that compensation must remain competitive with comparable electrical utilities to recruit and retain skilled workers. OTEC has continued negotiating but has limited its public discussion of specific bargaining proposals, grievances and individual personnel matters.
The economic dimensions of the strike extend into another major undertaking already before Oregon utility regulators.
OTEC and Idaho Power are seeking Oregon Public Utility Commission approval for the transfer of Idaho Power’s Oregon distribution system and service territory to the cooperative. The proposed transaction carries a base purchase price of $154 million and is expected to close in early 2027 if regulatory approval is obtained.
Approximately 20,000 Idaho Power residential, agricultural irrigation, commercial and industrial customers in Oregon would become OTEC member owners under the proposed transaction. The territory includes customers in Malheur, Harney, Baker and Wallowa counties and would considerably enlarge the cooperative’s existing operations.
Idaho Power would cease directly serving retail electricity customers in Oregon following the transaction but would retain generation and transmission assets in the state, including infrastructure associated with the Boardman to Hemingway transmission project. OTEC would purchase wholesale electricity from Idaho Power through a multiyear power supply arrangement to serve customers acquired through the transaction.
The acquisition also carries potential rate consequences. Information submitted in connection with the proposed transaction indicates that former Idaho Power customers would initially pay approximately 5.7 percent more than their current Idaho Power rates as OTEC recovers costs associated with the acquired system. Idaho Power has indicated that retaining the Oregon territory would likely require the company to pursue a general rate increase of at least 17 percent to recover increased capital and operating costs.
The Oregon Public Utility Commission is reviewing the proposed sale through contested case docket UM 2447, examining customer interests, service reliability and regulatory requirements before deciding whether the transfer should proceed.
The timing has placed OTEC’s labor negotiations and its proposed expansion before the public at the same moment. On Monday evening, only hours after union employees began striking, state utility regulators held an in person public hearing in Ontario concerning the Idaho Power transaction.
The labor dispute does not itself determine whether the acquisition will receive regulatory approval, and the two matters proceed through separate processes. The proposed purchase nevertheless establishes the financial and operational setting surrounding OTEC as contract negotiations continue. A cooperative currently responsible for electric service to nearly 60,000 Eastern Oregon residents is seeking to absorb another 20,000 customer accounts while negotiating employment terms with many of the skilled workers responsible for maintaining and repairing its distribution network.
Union representatives have raised staffing, compensation, recruitment and workforce retention as concerns associated with a larger service territory. OTEC has maintained that it has plans for continuity of electrical service during the strike and continues operating its existing system while negotiations remain unresolved.
For Oregon’s broader economy, the dispute involves infrastructure serving communities where electricity supports homes, farms, ranches, irrigation systems, businesses, health facilities, schools and industrial operations across substantial geographic distances. Reliable electrical distribution is particularly consequential in rural areas where individual crews may cover large territories and where severe weather, wildfires and equipment failures can require rapid field response.
The immediate economic effect of the strike will depend largely on its duration and whether OTEC can continue providing normal emergency and routine services through its contingency staffing. A relatively short walkout resolved through negotiations could produce little measurable disruption for customers. A prolonged dispute could increase pressure on staffing, maintenance schedules and nonemergency operations even if normal electrical service continues.
Contract negotiations remain the principal avenue for resolving the strike. Any settlement could address wages, working conditions, employee discipline, standby responsibilities and other provisions governing the relationship between OTEC and its represented workforce.
At the same time, state regulators will continue considering the proposed Idaho Power transaction, a deal that could reshape the organization and geographic reach of one of Eastern Oregon’s largest consumer owned utilities.
For now, OTEC continues operating, union employees remain on strike and electrical service across the cooperative’s existing territory continues under contingency arrangements. The length of the walkout, the eventual employment agreement and the outcome of the $154 million acquisition proceeding will determine how extensively this week’s labor dispute intersects with the cooperative’s planned expansion and the future delivery of electricity across Eastern Oregon.