SEATTLE. Hundreds of Puget Sound Energy customers turned out for an Oct. 7 public meeting to weigh in on the utility's request that state regulators approve a $1.5 billion increase in customer rates, KIRO 7 News Seattle reported.
PSE, Washington's largest utility company, proposed the new rate hikes in April. The plan would raise electricity rates by 30% over the next three years and gas rates by nearly 20% over the same period, and it also calls for tens of millions of dollars to be paid to the company's shareholders.
KIRO 7 reported in April that PSE's cost estimates were based on 800 kilowatt-hours of electricity, 200 more than its tier two rates threshold. At that usage, electricity rates would rise 16.75% in 2027, about $28 a month, followed by 3.76% in 2028, about $7 a month, and 8.91% in 2029, about $16 a month.
On the gas side, rates would climb 13.32% in 2027, roughly $14 a month, then 3.04% in 2028, about $4 a month, and 3.27% in 2029, about $5 a month.
By 2029, based on that usage, an electricity customer would pay $612 more in a year, and a gas customer would pay $276 more.
Customers who want regulators to hear from them still have time. Written testimony on the proposed charges is being accepted through Nov. 12.