Seattle City Light rates to increase amid high demand, costs

Seattle City Light to increase rates

Seattle City Light announced a plan Monday to increase rates for customers amid higher labor costs and a heightened demand for energy.

SEATTLE - The Seattle City Light Department recently announced a plan to increase rates for customers amid a growing energy demand and heightened labor costs.

Customers could see a 5.4% rate increase in 2025 and 2026, which equates to about an extra $5 per month or $10 per bi-monthly billing cycle for the typical Seattle City Light customer.

The rate hike is part of the utility department's updated 2025-2030 Strategic Plan, which was presented to the Seattle City Council’s Sustainability, City Light, Arts & Culture Committee on July 15.

The new plan is an update to its 2023-2028 Strategic Plan, which predicted rates would only increase by 3% annually in 2025.

According to the updated plan, Seattle Light rates will continue to increase by 5% annually until 2030, when a new strategic plan is developed.

The Seattle City Light Department cited inflation, supply chain struggles and a growing electricity demand as reasons for the rate hikes.

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In the meeting, the utility department pointed out several extreme weather events that caused significant spikes in its power prices. The most expensive events include the cold snaps in January 2024 and December 2022, along with the August 2023 heatwave and British Columbia pipeline rupture in October 2018.

Seattle City Light says its price points have doubled in recent years compared to 2001-2020, partially due to the severe weather, but also because of an increasing customer load and cost of resources. It's believed that new power resources will be needed to deal with the average load over the next few years.

The meeting also went over the depletion of Seattle Light's cash reserves, higher labor costs, and how new clean energy policies are affecting the utility marketplace.

Seattle Light says the rate increases will vary from the 5.4% average depending on customer classes and their owed charges.

This follows other regional utility companies that have planned rate increases for 2025. Tacoma Power will up their rates by 5%, Puget Sound Energy will charge around 6.9% more next year, and Portland General is set to increase their rates by 7.4%, according to Seattle Light.

The rate increases are subject to change, depending on future costs. The updated 2025-2030 Strategic Plan should become available on Seattle Light's Strategic Plan and Review Panel page once it's approved.