PSE new rate hike proposal draws ire at public hearing

The room was packed with a line out the door during the public comment hearing for a Puget Sound Energy rate proposal Tuesday evening at the Utilities and Transportation Commission’s headquarters in Lacey. 

“We’ve replaced just about everything to something more efficient for which I’ve gotten no incentives and no rebates for,” Becky Foster, a PSE ratepayer in Thurston County, said during the four-hour hearing that drew about 100 commenters. “The last two years [the bill] has skyrocketed and we’re paying more than 50% over what we were paying before.” 

She said she’s already paying around $600 a month on energy during the winter months. From 2022 to 2023, Foster said she paid $2,800 on electricity. 

“That’s just the winter months for us now,” Foster said.

Washington’s largest utility is asking regulators to approve an increase in electricity rates by 29.3% and gas rates by 19.8% over the next three years. It’s also asking to increase its allowed return on equity, or profit that shareholders earn on their investment, from 9.9% to 10.8%. 

In contrast with the state’s ambitious climate laws, the utility is also planning to use nearly $1 billion to maintain and build out its gas distribution system. 

Puget Sound Energy’s electricity rates have already increased this year by 18.85%. One after another, members of the public voiced their concerns of affordability. Retired people on fixed incomes, low-income households and those dependent on electronic medical devices are among the most vulnerable to another rate increase. 

“I’m here because my constituents are struggling to pay their energy bills, “ Rep. Beth Doglio, D-Olympia, told the three commissioners. 

“Washington residents should not have to choose between keeping the lights on and protecting our climate. We can and must do both,” Doglio added. 

In 2024, Doglio sponsored a bill that directs utilities that use both fossil fuels and renewable energy to phase out natural gas. The law, House Bill 1589, gives utilities new tools to make the energy transition affordable. 

Though Puget Sound Energy is using two of those tools in the rate proposal, the law was not intended to be used while a utility increases investments in natural gas, Doglio said. 

“Are these investments necessary? Cost-effective? And, consistent with Washington’s clean energy goals?” Doglio said. “I am deeply concerned that many of them are not.”

Puget Sound Energy says its power supply costs have tripled since 2019, when Washington passed the Clean Energy Transformation Act, a law that mandates utilities make all electricity sales greenhouse gas neutral. 

“We recognize that higher bills are difficult for our customers and that more rate increases are not what anyone wants to hear,” reads a Puget Sound Energy statement. “At the same time, the cost of providing safe and reliable energy has increased significantly.”

A glaring criticism of PSE’s proposal is its intention to convert the shut-down Centralia Power Plant into a gas-fired power plant, with operations projected to begin in late 2028.

“This is a very bad use of ratepayer dollars to put all this money into a project that isn’t necessary and that will interfere with our pollution and climate goals,” said Jan Hasselman, Earthjustice attorney. 

The utility is also seeking ratepayer recovery for two planned gas-turbine projects. 

“There’s this horribly ironic feedback loop where we’re spending more and more money on fossil fuel projects … and spending ratepayer money to make our system more resilient [to] climate change,” said Hasselman. 

The three commissioners will accept, reject or modify the proposal in early January. The next opportunity for public comment is Oct. 7.