PSE, Our Electricity Bills, and Our Climate

If your electricity bill has gone up a lot in the last few years, you’re a customer of Puget Sound Energy (PSE), and you’re wondering whether this will continue, you’re not alone.

There are different stories about PSE’s future. PSE’s story is reflected in a recent Seattle Times opinion, recommending that we give PSE relief from complying with the state’s Climate Commitment Act. The cost of electricity from PSE is higher than from other large utilities and has nearly doubled since 2020. PSE is way behind other large utilities in implementing clean energy. The Times claims that requiring PSE to replace gas burning with clean energy would further increase its costs. They don’t mention PSE’s recently submitted plan, which would go in the opposite direction by building 20 new gas plants.

A different viewpoint comes from people with solid energy management knowledge and experience, including, among others, the Washington Clean Energy Coalition (WCEC, wacleanenergy.org). They point out that increasing gas emissions would create a large new cost problem: carbon allowances that are essentially penalties for violating state law. And these penalties would be handed down to consumers. They argue that, if PSE put more effort into clean energy and reducing customers’ demand for energy, the cost would be much less than in PSE’s proposal. Compliance with the Climate Commitment Act would be easy. They also point out that, contrary to obligation, PSE’s plan does not seriously consider these alternatives. Instead, PSE just wants to escape from its responsibility to follow state law and policy.

Why is this? Follow the money. PSE is big. It is a private monopoly, not a public utility. Its top priority is serving its shareholders. Large new capital investments in gas plants will commit PSE customers to paying a large return for many years. PSE makes money on what it builds, not in reducing our bills, our demand, or our greenhouse gas emissions. If you need more evidence of PSE’s strategy, follow the millions of dollars we pay for PSE’s lobbying. Those of us in Kitsap County are seeing this now. November’s ballot includes a proposition that would give Kitsap Public Utility District the authority to replace PSE as the electricity utility here, helping us pay less and pollute less. PSE is spending millions on ads with dubious claims to oppose this proposition.

Three interests are competing here. One is the interest of PSE shareholders. Another is our interest in reducing our energy costs, whether by reducing what utilities charge or reducing our need for energy. The third is our collective interest in reducing global warming. The last is largely neglected in these discussions, treated as a nice thing but something to be dismissed if there is a hassle. This ignores the heat and fires of this summer, the storms and floods we’re seeing now across the country, and the lives lost in the world.

Neglecting global warming also ignores public opinion. A large majority of people in Washington see global warming, know it will harm future generations, and want corporations and government to act. This opinion is generally hidden. People concerned about global warming often think others don’t care. Electeds often largely underestimate the number of constituents who care. There was great surprise in 2024 at the 62%-38% vote against Initiative 2117, which sought to repeal the Climate Commitment Act.

Climate action doesn’t fit in the ordinary politics of who gets what, how, when. But it can be pursued when something tangible is at stake. We can see this in the huge and growing reaction against data centers and their massive increase in environmental damage and energy demand. PSE’s behavior is tangible. On one side is PSE and the money it wants to make. On the other, allied today, are our need to save money and our need to take climate action.

You can act. PSE is regulated by the Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC). Commissioners are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate. WCEC has asked the UTC to consider the issues it has raised and to hire a consultant, independent of PSE, to review PSE’s plan. You can send a statement on this to the UTC (https://www.utc.wa.gov/). You can also ask the Governor and your State Senator to ensure that the UTC is effective, and to not cave on the Climate Commitment Act. This can make a difference!