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The City of Seattle
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A resolution relating to the City Light Department; adopting a 2027-2032 Strategic Plan for the City Light Department and endorsing the associated rate path.
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Recitals:
In consultation with the Mayor and the City Council, the City Light Department (City Light) initiated the strategic planning process in 2010 to provide more transparency and accountability for decision-making within City Light.
Per Ordinance 123256, the City Light Review Panel (Review Panel) is charged with representing City Light ratepayers and with reviewing and assessing City Light’s strategic plans.
Resolution 31383, adopted July 2012, approved City Light’s 2013-2018 Strategic Plan and six-year rate path, and directed the utility to review and update the Strategic Plan every two years, adding two years to the Strategic Plan and re-evaluating the remaining four years of the existing Strategic Plan.
Since 2013 the Review Panel has reviewed City Light’s progress in carrying out the Strategic Plan and has also reviewed the Utility’s proposed 2027-2032 Strategic Plan.
City Light continues the two-year update planning cycle and is delivering the 2027-2032 Strategic Plan (Attachment 1 to this resolution).
City Light’s rates and revenue requirement are governed by financial policies adopted in Resolution 31187.
The Strategic Plan is foundational to the development of City Light’s budget and establishing a rate path that protects long-term affordability by prioritizing the most critical work.
City Light conducted extensive outreach regarding the Strategic Plan, with customer and stakeholder group meetings, customer surveys, and employee engagement groups.
The US electric sector is experiencing significant load uncertainty influenced by economic conditions, technological advancements and policy decisions.
This uncertainty also arises from the variability in timing, type and rate of load growth and power demand expected from building and transportation electrification, computing services, and data center operations making it increasingly difficult to forecast long-term rate increases.
The resulting 2027-2032 Strategic Plan, which includes a rate path, centers on outcomes the utility is committed to delivering in alignment with the Mayor’s Vision for Seattle, allowing for flexibility in the path forward.
The 2027-2032 Strategic Plan identifies six focus areas. The six areas are: 1) Customer Experience, 2) Power Supply, 3) Reliability, 4) Sustainability, 5) Technology and 6) Workforce.
The Review Panel, in its letter dated May 7, 2026 (Attachment 2 to this resolution), endorses the Strategic Plan and associated rate path, noting that increasing operational costs, potential power shortages, the need to adopt customer-facing technologies that shift and reduce demand, and the challenge of meeting decarbonization goals without federal grants and tax incentives all support the need for a significant rate increase to maintain service and system reliability;
The City Council has reviewed the Strategic Plan, the associated rate path, the recommendation of the Review Panel, and the results of customer and stakeholder engagement. Therefore,
Be it resolved by the City Council of The City of Seattle, the Mayor concurring:
Section 1. The City Council adopts the City Light Department’s 2027-2032 Strategic Plan (Strategic Plan), a copy of which is attached to this resolution as Attachment 1 and incorporated by reference.
Section 2. To achieve the goals of the Strategic Plan, the annual rate increases for 2027 and 2028 are shown below are endorsed:
2027: 9.5 percent
2028: 9.5 percent
Due to the increased load and power demand uncertainties faced by City Light, for the remaining four years of the 2027-2032 Strategic Plan (2029-2032) the rate increases are forecasted in the range of seven percent to 11 percent annually.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - Seattle City Light 2027-2032 Strategic Plan and Appendices
Attachment 2 - City Light Review Panel Comment Letter on Proposed 2027-2032 Seattle City Light Strategic Plan
Adopted by the City Council and signed in open session in authentication of its adoption on .
President of the City Council
Signed in concurrence on .
Katie B. Wilson, Mayor
Attested on .
Scheereen Dedman, City Clerk
Seal