State regulators today approved a rate increases for Puget Sound Energy’s (PSE) electric and natural gas customers.
According to a Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) press release, the average homeowner will see a roughly $5 increase to their monthly electric bill and a $1.32 increase to monthly gas bills. New rates are expected to take effect approximately April 7.
The UTC is allowing the company to raise electric rates by about 2.8 percent and natural gas prices by .8 percent. That is far lower than their original request for an increase of $148 million, or 7.4 percent for electric service, and nearly $27.2 million, or 2.2 percent, for natural gas service.
The commission received 630 public comments on PSE’s rate increase proposal – with five in favor, 606 opposing and 19 undecided.
Bellevue-based PSE serves more than 1 million electric customers and about 750,000 natural gas customers, primarily in the Puget Sound region of Washington.
The UTC estimates including both increases the average residential customers’ monthly bill will rise to about $97 for electricity and $80 for natural gas service — still below the national average.
The UTC also agreed to raise the basic service charge for PSE’s electric customers to $7.25 a month from the current $7 charge. The basic service charge for natural gas customers will remain the same at $10 a month.
The UTC is allowing PSE the opportunity to earn a 10.1 percent rate of return on equity, not the 10.8 percent the company was requesting. This accounts for the majority for the difference between what the company requested and the commission approved.
Among several power-supply projects the commission deemed prudent are a 311-megawatt natural gas-fired generating plant called Mint Farm in Longview and an expansion of the Wild Horse wind project outside of Ellensburg. The UTC also agreed with the utility’s sale of the White River hydropower assets.
The commission excluded some PSE-requested expenses for salary increases and special retirement accounts for high-level executives. Other expenses disallowed by the UTC include estimated property tax calculations and some power-supply costs.
