Dear friend,

 

Puget Sound Energy is yet again trying to increase rates for residential gas customers. There will be a public hearing and the Utilities and Transportation Commission need to hear from you that these increases should be denied.

 

November 1st, 2023 Puget Sound Energy Rate Increase

Talking Points

 

Public Hearing

Wednesday November 1st starting at 6pm

Click here to join by Zoom  

By phone: dial 253-215-8782 and use Conference ID 867 8437 7255 and Passcode 570072. UTC website:https://www.utc.wa.gov/230393.

 

We recommend speaking from the heart about why this matters.

Plan your comment to be about 2 minutes or less.

Facebook event here

 

Written Comments can be submitted to:

Email to: [email protected]

By mail at P.O. Box 47250, Olympia, WA 98504

Include “Docket UG-230393” somewhere in your comment or subject line


 

Send an easy pre-written comment at: bit.ly/46EexaI

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Talking Points:

 

Customers are already struggling to pay their bills & should not have to pay for PSE’s poor investment choices

  • PSE wants to raise residential gas rates by 3.45%. This is unacceptable when PSE is already Washington’s most expensive utility and many customers are struggling or unable to pay their bills.

  • PSE pursues large infrastructure projects that maximize profits for its investors, but which have not been shown to make measurable improvements in reliability metrics or the daily lives of PSE customers.

  • PSE has not proven that large projects like the Tacoma LNG refinery are a prudent investment for ratepayers.

  • Many of PSE’s past projects have been vigorously opposed by PSE’s customers and are manifestly harmful to the environment.

 

PSE should not receive a rate increase to pay for the Tacoma Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility.

  • The Puyallup Tribe and Earthjustice are still appealing the permits for this controversial facility in court.

  • The pollution from this facility will disproportionately impact already overburdened and marginalized communities–namely the Puyallup Tribe and immigrants living in NW Detention Center. This has been recognized by the Tacoma Human Rights Commission.

  • PSE claims the facility will provide cleaner fuel for marine shipping. Studies show that Liquefied Natural Gas is just as bad for climate as other marine bunker fuels when lifecycle emissions are counted. 

    • Even if LNG was cleaner, the cost of cleaning up the shipping industry should not be borne by residential customers. Residential customers would only use approximately 2% of the use of the facility, yet are being asked to pay for 43% of the construction costs.

  • This facility is predicated on PSE’s false assertion that public demand for natural gas will increase. This assumption ignores the reality of growing public demand for electric heat pumps instead of gas heating, and both state and local government regulations moving to curtail the use of gas in buildings.

  • Additional Background Info on Tacoma LNG: Native Daily Network’s Coverage of Tacoma LNG Resistance

 

The Utilities & Transportation Commission should stop approving rate increases that force customers to pay for new or expanded fossil fuel infrastructure.

  • PSE is not investing sufficiently in energy efficiency, energy storage, time-varying rates, demand response and other measures that would accelerate the transition to clean energy, as well as improve reliability and lower customer costs.

  • The Utilities and Transportation Commission looks out for customers by approving investments with the “lowest cost”. When examining what constitutes lowest cost, the UTC must start including more than just the upfront financial cost in their deliberations. 

    • When PSE wants to build more gas infrastructure, the cost of exacerbating the climate crisis with more methane emissions should be considered, including likely future costs related to sea level rise, deadly heat waves, droughts, worsening wildfire seasons, and the human health costs related to these events.

    • Approving reimbursement for infrastructure that will run on fracked gas must consider the costs related to fracking: poisoned water tables; earthquakes; destruction of habitat; violations of Indigenous sovereignty, increase in the epidemic of Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women near pipeline construction and man camps; health impacts to nearby communities such as cancer and birth defects. 

    • Customers would pay off the massive costs of fossil fuel infrastructure projects over many decades. To meet Washington’s climate targets, new fossil fuel projects will need to be retired well before they are paid off—potentially leaving customers on the hook for huge costs that they never benefit from.



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Thank YOU for taking action!!