Seattle residents get hit with rising utility, electricity bills

Seattle residents will pay more for utilities and electricity in the coming years, now that the City Council has approved the companies’ plans.

The plans call for average annual rate increases of about 4% to 6% through 2030. Next year, Seattle Public Utilities rates will rise by 3.7% and Seattle City Light rates are set to jump by 5.4%. According to agency data reported by The Seattle Times, the combined monthly cost of utilities and electricity for a typical Seattle household could reach $444 by 2030. The agencies update their strategic plans every few years with rate projections, while the council sets the actual rates annually.

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Utility companies contend rising construction costs, increasing energy demand and extreme weather are to blame for the hikes. City Light is dealing with surging demand and volatile energy prices. For much of the past 20 years, hydropower from the agency’s dams met most of Seattle’s electricity needs, with additional energy purchased at stable, low prices. Drought conditions have also reduced output from City Light’s dams, forcing the agency to buy more power on the open market at higher costs.

Public Utilities cited rising costs of goods and labor and major upgrades to Seattle’s aging water, sewage, and drainage systems as reasons for the rate increases. The agency is spending $710 million on a massive storage tunnel for sewage and stormwater, up from $570 million when the project began in 2021.

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Discounts and emergency assistance are available for lower-income customers.

“We wanted to consider what our constituents would be paying,” council member Tanya Woo said, describing the discount program as the “best way” to help lower-income residents manage rate hikes.

Bill Kaczaraba is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here. Follow Bill on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email him here.