14.74¢
per kWh, 2025
[ City of Seattle / WA ]
City of Seattle electricity rates in Washington
CITY SETS RATES · DATA 2025
change in average rate, 2024→2025
+4.6%
vs 2024
472,309
residential customers
+24.2%
since 2020
What your bill becomes
Bill today
No change on file
Difference / month · / year
Estimated at City of Seattle's average effective residential rate (14.74¢/kWh, EIA, all charges included). Your tariff, fees and taxes differ.
Rate history 2015–2025
| Year | ¢/kWh | Change | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 9.08¢ | — | 381,419 |
| 2016 | 9.44¢ | +4.0% | 389,942 |
| 2017 | 10.55¢ | +11.8% | 403,888 |
| 2018 | 10.72¢ | +1.6% | 410,664 |
| 2019 | 11.37¢ | +6.1% | 419,601 |
| 2020 | 11.87¢ | +4.4% | 426,359 |
| 2021 | 11.85¢ | −0.2% | 433,686 |
| 2022 | 12.12¢ | +2.3% | 441,926 |
| 2023 | 12.78¢ | +5.5% | 451,055 |
| 2024 | 14.09¢ | +10.3% | 459,964 |
| 2025 | 14.74¢ | +4.6% | 472,309 |
How this compares
13.17¢
Washington average, 2025
+11.9%
City of Seattle vs WA 2025 average
−14.4%
vs US 2025 average
#4
priciest in WA
Serves 1 county in Washington: King. 62 ZIP codes.
What the numbers show
Since 2015, City of Seattle's average residential rate has gone from 9.08¢ to 14.74¢ per kWh: +62.3% over 10 years, or about +5.0% a year. It rose in 9 of the 10 years we can compare, and the biggest one-year increase was +11.8% in 2017. The largest drop was −0.2% in 2021.
For a home using 945 kWh a month, the Washington average, City of Seattle's 2025 rate works out to about $1,672 a year, $178 more than at Washington's average rate of 13.17¢. Of the 38 Washington utilities in our data with a 2025 price, it is the 4th most expensive.
City of Seattle served 381,419 homes in 2015 and 472,309 in 2025 (+23.8%), about 14% of Washington's residential electricity customers.
Who sets City of Seattle's rates
City of Seattle is a municipal utility owned by the local government. The city council or a local utility board sets its rates, usually after a public meeting, and the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission generally does not.
Commission contact: Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. How we calculate every figure on this page: methodology.
Questions
Is City of Seattle raising rates in 2026?
City of Seattle's rates are set by the city council or a local utility board, not through a rate case at the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, so check its own notices for a change this year. Its average residential rate moved +4.6% from 2024 to 2025.
What does City of Seattle charge per kWh?
City of Seattle's average effective residential rate was 14.74¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA-861, revenue divided by sales, all charges included). Washington's 2025 average was 13.17¢.
How much have City of Seattle rates gone up in five years?
+24.2% between 2020 and 2025, against +43.4% for Washington as a whole over the latest five-year window.
How many customers does City of Seattle have in Washington?
472,309 residential customers in 2025, across 1 county including King, according to the EIA-861 survey.
Where do these numbers come from?
Rates and customer counts are from the US Energy Information Administration's annual EIA-861 survey, which every US utility files. Nothing here is a utility bill; use it to understand the direction and size of changes.
Sources
- EIA-861 Sales to Ultimate Customers, 2015–2025 (released 2026-10-07)
- EIA-861M monthly state averages through Jul 2026
- NREL utility-by-ZIP lookup (2024)