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Washington’s largest utility wants to charge its customers more and is giving them a chance to weigh in.
Puget Sound Energy is asking state regulators to approve $1.5 billion in rate increases over the next three years.
The proposal would cost a typical PSE electricity customer an additional $612 a year by 2029 and a typical gas customer $276 a year.
The for-profit utility says it needs the revenue to build more power plants as demand increases and the state cleans up its power supply.
“This rate plan reflects the balance we must strike: keeping our gas and electric system strong and dependable, investing in cleaner resources that will power our future, and doing so as responsibly and thoughtfully as possible,” Puget Sound Energy CEO Mary Kipp said in a press release.
Environmentalists and low-income advocates oppose the rate hike and PSE’s plan to build more gas power plants, including converting a shuttered coal-burning plant in Centralia to run on gas until 2045, when Washington bans fossil-fuel power plants.
“There are cheaper and cleaner alternatives that are available to the company,” Earthjustice attorney Victor Zertuche said.
State law requires the power supply to be carbon neutral by 2030 to help fight climate change. At least 80% of the supply must be from non-polluting sources, while utilities can get 20% of their supply from fossil fuel sources if they pay to offset that pollution.
Environmental advocates say Puget Sound Energy plans to get just 66% of its power from clean sources in 2030.
The utility is also seeking approval to boost its profit margin to 10.8%, up from the current 9.9%.
The Washington Attorney General’s Office, which is opposing the utility’s proposed rate hike, is urging the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission to allow PSE only an 8.2% profit margin.
The Utilities and Transportation Commission is holding a public-comment hearing on the rate request in Lacey Sept. 29 at 6 p.m. and an online hearing Oct. 7 at 6 p.m.
The hearing could draw a crowd. The utilities commission is advising in-person commenters to dress for the weather: “If our meeting room reaches capacity, participants will be in line outside.”
The commission is expected to take effect that month through 2029.
Puget Sound Energy serves 1.2 million electric customers and 900,000 natural gas customers in Washington.
John Ryan joined KUOW as its first full-time investigative reporter in 2009 and became its environment reporter in 2018. He focuses on climate change, energy, and the ecosystems of the Puget Sound region.
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