Washington Electricity Rates per kWh: Columbia River PUDs vs Puget Sound

The same 800 kWh cost about $30 in Wenatchee and $136 around Puget Sound in 2025. The expensive end is now rising fastest: Puget Sound Energy wants 16.75% in 2027, and Seattle has approved 9.5% twice. Here is how far the gap could stretch.

The same 800 kWh costs $30 or $136

Washington’s average hides the widest spread in the country. Here is one 800 kWh month, the usage Puget Sound Energy quotes in its own filings, priced at what each utility’s homes paid on average in 2025.

Chelan County PUD owns three hydro projects, Rocky Reach and Rock Island on the Columbia and the Lake Chelan dam, and sells most of their output wholesale. That is why 3.78¢ per kWh was possible, among the lowest prices anywhere in the US. Grant County PUD also runs Columbia River dams and charged 6.17¢. No one can switch between them: your address picks the column you are in.

The gap is about to widen

The utilities at the top of that table have the largest increases ahead. These are the two that reach the most homes.

The Seattle figures are settled for two years. The City Council approved them unanimously on 21 July 2026, and its strategic plan then projects 9.8% in 2029, rising to 11.6% by 2032. Utility Discount Program customers would see about $4 a month each year, and the programme is opening to an estimated 31,000 more homes. City Light says it needs the money for rising demand, climate effects and old equipment, and reports wire and cable prices up 93% from 2020 to 2025.

PSE’s request is not settled. It filed for a three-year plan, Dockets 260005 and 260006, at the Utilities and Transportation Commission, which can take up to 11 months and may change the numbers. Compounded, the three percentages come to about 32%, which is our sum. PSE says the plan funds more than $3.2 billion of investment across electricity and gas, and the Attorney General’s public counsel has called the request excessive. It follows a two-year plan approved in January 2025, which raised an average 800 kWh bill by $13.08, or 12%, to $122.16, with power-cost orders adding more.

State law also matters here: Cascadia Daily reports that PSE must reach 80% renewable or non-emitting supply within the next four to seven years, which means building large projects.

Price a Washington winter, not an average

Over the last 12 months the average home used 1,270 kWh in January and 739 in September, so the bill ran from $102 to $175. Divide a winter bill’s total by its kWh for your price, because that is when most of your money goes. The utility menu fills in a 2025 average instead.

Summer barely registers

Bills fell through spring and stayed near $120 even in July. Washington ranks 22nd of 51 for yearly use, and its typical bill 39th. Many homes heat with electricity, so a cold snap moves a bill far more than a hot spell.

Who runs each utility

PSE, Avista and Pacific Power are investor-owned, and the state commission sets their rates. Avista in Spokane charged 14.16¢ in 2025 and PSE 17.01¢. Seattle City Light charged 14.74¢ and Tacoma Power 11.45¢, with their city councils in charge. Elected commissioners run each public utility district, such as Snohomish at 12.08¢ and Clark at 10.63¢.

EIA-861 for 2025: each utility’s revenue from homes divided by the kWh they used, so monthly charges are spread into the price.

Cheap, but losing the lead

The 2010 price of 8.04¢ has become 14.20¢, a rise of 77%. Nearly all of the speed came after 2022: about 10¢ in 2021, 11.0¢ in 2023, 11.9¢ the year after, then 13.2¢ in 2025. Only six states have risen faster since 2010. Washington has stayed under the US average every year, though by less and less.

Oregon shares the river

Oregon shares the Columbia hydropower and pays a little more. California, Alaska and Hawaii pay far more.

Across the border: Idaho 12.77¢, Oregon 15.53¢.

All 50 states and DC on one page, with a map.

What the statewide figure hides

Our 800 kWh table uses 2025 averages, which include each utility’s fixed charges at its own typical use, so a real 800 kWh bill may differ. The city council’s percentages apply to rates, and City Light gives $10 as a monthly bill effect. PSE’s dollars are for 800 kWh on its standard schedule. The state commission’s notice quotes a lower overall figure of 14.2% across all customers at filing. No month has moved by 8% or more since 2010, and because PSE has so many homes, its changes move the state figure far more than any PUD’s.

Figures to August 2026 (EIA marks recent months preliminary), utility figures for 2025, refreshed 3 November 2026. How every number in this series is made and checked.

• Washington, every month since 2010 (CSV): price per kWh, kWh and bill per home, and the US price.
• Every state, DC and the US (CSV)
• Everything above with the utility and supplier figures (JSON)

EIA data is in the public domain: credit the U.S. Energy Information Administration. A link back is welcome.

Questions

Electricity rates in other states

Version history

• 2.0 (6 November 2026): rebuilt around 800 kWh priced at each utility, PSE’s three-year request and Seattle City Light’s approved increases.
• 1.0.1 (November 2026): wording and page heading tidied; no figures changed.
• 1.0 (November 2026): first published.