Electricity Prices In Washington Are On The Rise

You may not know this, but electricity in Washington state is actually lower in cost than the national average. But unfortunately, it's increasing in cost more rapidly than the national average. The average cost of electricity in Washington state In May of 2024 was 12.14 cents a kilowatt hour. One year later, in May of 2025 it was 13.67 cents per kilowatt hour. That's an increase of about 12.6%. The national average for that time Was 6.5%. 

The highest power rate increase was in Maine, 36.3 cents per kilowatt hour. The good news in the short term is that Washington state residents still pay less for electricity than the national average of 17.47 cents per kilowatt hour. 

But things are going to get tighter. 

According to axios.com,
‘Liz Anderson, the executive director of the Washington Public Utility Districts Association, said utilities' efforts to upgrade the state's electric grid and meet a state mandate to be carbon-neutral by 2030 are among the factors driving up prices.
Going forward, data centers — which consume immense amounts of power — are contributing to an "extraordinary growth in the demand for electricity," Anderson wrote in a letter to other officials last fall.’
 

Power producers in Washington state are offering up a lot of excuses for why rates are starting to go up again. Infrastructure upgrades, severe weather events, Investments in clean energy. Washington state Public Utilities have a deadline of 2030 to be carbon neutral in the state. That's going to cost money. 

Now add in the tremendous power requirements of data centers and population increase and the demand on electricity in Washington state is going to only get bigger. 

I've mentioned this before, the cheapest electricity in the United States is located in Chelan and Douglas counties. In the years to come it probably will still remain the cheapest electricity in the U.S. But we're probably going to see price increases in the next couple of years.
Higher electricity costs hit Washington state as data center demand looms - Axios Seattle
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Electricity data browser - Net generation for all sectors