Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has once again proposed ANOTHER rate hike to the Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), and once again is blaming environmental policies for the hike in price.
This time they’re requesting an almost 30% increase on electric bills and almost 20% on gas bills!
People and organizations across WA state are rallying together to oppose this massive rate hike. Help urge the UTC not to approve costly and unnecessary new fossil fuel infrastructure, or allow PSE to reinstate harmful fees and collections practices. PSE keeps pushing off adoption of building electrification programs that would improve indoor air quality, reduce emissions damaging our climate, AND cost customers less! Instead, PSE’s wasting our money buying offsets that produce no tangible benefits. We need the UTC to hold this for-profit utility accountable and protect the public. In previous rate cases with large public pushback on PSE’s bad “investments”, the UTC has vastly reduced the amount of rate hike being approved.
Take Action!
- For more impact, write an original comment to comments@utc.wa.gov
- Attend the 9/29 in person Hearing: 621 Woodland Square Loop SE Lacey, WA from 6pm – 8pm. Sign up to give or get a carpool ride here!
- Participate in the virtual Hearing on 10/7 from 6pm – 8pm.
By phone (253) 215-8782 and enter Meeting ID: 822 1351 8474# Passcode: 226995#
- Tell five friends!
Talking points and more info: tinyurl.com/PSE2026ratehike
A Deeper Dive...
Puget sound Energy is paying for a lot of ads to try and make the public feel like the reason their bills are so high is because of clean energy and state climate goals. But in reality, PSE continues “investing” in fracked gas generation in a way that is making energy unaffordable for ratepayers. (The images of PSE’s ads below have been fixed to be more accurate!)
The goal of Washington’s Climate Commitment Act (CCA) is to achieve emissions reductions. PSE is choosing compliance pathways largely dependent on purchasing allowances (aka paying to continue polluting), instead of investing in decarbonization and electrification. Each year, PSE passes on the cost of allowance purchases to customers, yet they produce no emissions reduction or financial risk reduction. The money PSE is wasting on allowances would be better spent, more in line with the public interest, and go further towards reaching emissions reduction targets, if invested in building electrification programs.
One of the “investments” PSE wants to raise our rates for is turning a Centralia, WA coal plant into a fracked gas facility.
We should not be building new fossil fuel infrastructure in 2026. PSE’s request to acquire the Centralia Energy Transition Tolling Agreement is not consistent with the state’s climate and environmental obligations and should be denied.
In this proposal emissions are likely underestimated, it’s unclear at what capacity the plant would operate, a SEPA application is not yet public on the Dept of Ecology website, no public comment opportunity has been issued, and it’s unclear who would be in charge of equity review.
Proposing gas generation that has not gone through traditional planning requirements – a review through a competitive bidding process, identified as a lowest-cost resource, is uneconomical to run for one-third of the tolling agreement, and has not demonstrated that need for capacity outweighs the increased cost- exposes customers to long-term costs and stranded asset risk – gas is already uneconomic and will be more uneconomic in the future.
This project is currently in the permit phase, and a pre-written comment opposing its approval can be sent to the Dept of Ecology until 9/15/26.
PSE wants to charge residential customers for a Hydrogen Blending Pilot Program that would likely not benefit them.
Hydrogen use is most likely to be part of the industrial sector–such as marine, aviation, steel, cement, and heavy duty vehicles–not playing a key role in residential and commercial energy use. Customers should not be paying for pilot projects that will not benefit them. (This feels like a repeat of when PSE charged residential customers almost half of the construction costs of the Tacoma LNG Fracked Gas Refinery, despite the main purpose of the facility being to sell marine fuel to industrial shipping customers!)
Additionally, burning hydrogen blends in homes and businesses can increase toxic emissions of nitrogen oxides.
The UTC should deny PSE’s hydrogen blending pilot proposal. PSE does not provide basic, important information: how much the hydrogen will cost; how the hydrogen will be procured; safety protocols; pilot design; total cost estimates; how to monitor indoor air quality; or emissions reduction estimates.
Puget Sound Energy is a for-profit corporation that looks out for shareholder profits, not their customers.
PSE is proposing to revert to the credit and collections practices that they followed before the Covid pandemic, which were harmful for low-income and energy burdened customers. Tell the UTC that all fees and residential deposits for PSE’s customers should be prohibited. People are already struggling to pay bills and shouldn’t have to worry about punitive fees or predatory practices.
PSE’s Time-of-Use program should be approved and PSE should be directed to continue providing bill discount rate participants with bill protection as well as installation assistance and customer education. Affordability should be a core part of PSE’s clean energy strategy by ensuring customers can both access and afford clean energy programs.
Currently the percent of customers who qualify for bill assistance that are actually receiving support is heartbreaking low. The barriers creating this gap in support need to be addressed.
One proposal we can get behind: Seattle University Thermal Energy Project
PSE’s proposed Thermal Energy Network (TEN) pilot project at Seattle University (SU) demonstrates public benefits, emissions reductions, and pathways to the reduction of gas infrastructure. This project should be approved.
The proposed TEN would provide space heating, hot water, and cooling to numerous buildings on the SU campus, fully decarbonizing one building and significantly reducing natural gas consumption at ten others, with an estimated 60% reduction in annual gas usage at the campus. This location could serve as an “anchor” for an expanded TEN that encompasses nearby buildings, potentially including four large nearby healthcare centers. The pilot will improve localized air quality by eliminating on-site emissions of toxic pollutants like nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter.
TENs can create more skilled, clean energy jobs, as installing and maintaining TENs requires virtually identical skills as installing gas pipes. TENs can also provide the opportunity for entire neighborhoods to transition off fossil fuel infrastructure at the same time, avoiding upward rate pressure as some customers electrify. TENs can improve service reliability and energy resiliency during extreme weather events, which are ever worsening due to climate change and often lead to severe and dangerous disruptions to fossil fuel energy service.