SNOHOMISH COUNTY, FEB. 3: The Snohomish County Public Utility Department (PUD) Board of Commissioners approved rate increases last month for residential and select business customers to address unforeseen costs after severe weather events in the region.
The Board approved a 4.9% rate increase for residential customers and a 4.1% and 3.6% increase for small and medium-sized business customers. The new rates will go into effect on April 1.
PUD staff recommended a rate increase to the Board to address multiple severe weather events in the region, Lead Communications Specialist Aaron Swaney wrote in an email.
In 2024 PUD spent an additional $45 million to purchase electricity in January due to unusual subfreezing temperatures during Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. PUD also spent an additional $16 million on restoration efforts after the Bomb Cyclone event in November.
Coupled with “higher-than-normal inflationary impacts to wages, equipment and more,” the Board of Commissioners voted to increase rates during the Jan. 21 meeting.
“The rate increase will allow the PUD to continue to build new infrastructure and upgrade equipment to continue to provide safe, reliable and environmentally sustainable power to our communities,” Swaney wrote.
The Snohomish PUD is the second largest public utility in Washington and serves 879,000 residents in Snohomish County and Camano Island. They provide services to more than 373,000 homes and business and water services to more than 23,000 homes.
“To minimize this year’s rate increase, the PUD implemented a variety of cost-cutting measures and process improvements. PUD staff prioritized projects and identified multiple ways to reduce expenditures in the 2025 budget, saving $24 million,” Swaney wrote.
The PUD has also altered its contract with Bonneville Power Administration which will significantly reduce the cost impact of future extreme weather events that drive up electricity costs, Swaney wrote.
Residential Customers
The rate increase for PUD residential electric customers will be applied to the basic charge. The energy charge for residential customers remains at 10.26 cents per kilowatt-hour.
The typical residential customer will see an average increase of about $4 for small (multi-family customers or those with an amp size below 100), and about $6.40 for medium customers (majority of single-family homes), to their bill each month.
“The rate increase for residential customers is slightly higher than the rate increase to small- and medium-sized business customers to better align with the PUD’s cost-of-service analysis,” a press release from PUD said.
Business customers
Small business customers should expect an increase to base charges and energy charges. The base charge will increase by 80 cents per day, while the energy charge will decrease to 8.365 cents/kWh.
For customers with an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh, the rate increase will result in a bill increase of about $18 each month.
For medium business customers, there will be no change to the base charge or demand charge.
The only increase will be applied to the Second Tier (>30,000 kWh) energy charge, which will increase by 2.353 cents/kWh in spring (April-June) and 0.353 cents/kWh the rest of the year. The First Tier (<30,000 kWh) energy charge will decrease by 0.635 cents/kWh.
All changes to the medium business customers’ rates will equalize the energy charge for all seasons and tiers according to the press release.
The PUD has tools to help customers with their bills, including income-qualified assistance programs that offer 25% or 50% bill deductions for qualifying customers. You can reach out to their customer service line at 425-783-1776.
