Across the globe, the cost of powering a home has become a source of anxiety, debate, and political wrangling. In the Pacific Northwest, residents are bracing for even higher energy bills, while households in the United Kingdom are preparing for a rare bit of relief. Meanwhile, Americans everywhere are feeling the pinch as electricity prices continue their relentless climb, fueled by a tangle of factors from extreme weather to aging infrastructure. What’s driving these divergent trends, and what does it mean for ordinary families caught in the middle?
On February 25, 2026, Puget Sound residents woke up to a harsh reality: their energy bills had jumped by 20% to 40%—a spike many attribute directly to Washington State’s Climate Commitment Act (CCA). As Todd Myers, vice president for research at the Washington Policy Center, explained to KIRO Newsradio’s “The Gee and Ursula Show,” the CO2 tax embedded in the CCA is designed to rise each year, effectively nudging consumers and utilities away from coal and natural gas by making them more expensive. “It’s going to continually increase because the cost of the CO2 tax keeps going up every single year,” Myers said. “That’s what it’s designed to do. The goal of the climate policy is to increase the cost of CO2 emissions and basically force people and utilities to switch off of that.” (KIRO Newsradio)
For many, the pain is immediate and personal. In Spokane, natural gas customers are paying about 20% more than they did before the tax took hold. Until recently, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) customers couldn’t even see the CO2 tax itemized on their bills, but after a successful push by the Washington Policy Center, that will change around June 2026. “Between the hours of 4 and 7 p.m., electricity actually costs more. Most people don’t realize that because they’re insulated from it,” Myers explained, pointing to Time of Use programs that allow customers to shift usage to off-peak hours for savings. Seattle City Light plans to roll out such a program soon, while PSE customers can already sign up.
But who’s really to blame for these higher bills? According to Myers, it’s not the utilities themselves, but the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, which must approve all rate increases. “The Utilities Commission has to approve any rate increases, and PSE has to justify it,” he said. “So what they say is, ‘Here’s what the increase is from the tax on CO2 emissions. Here are other elements of rate increases. This is the request that we’re asking for.’ And so then the Utilities Commission says, ‘Yes, that’s justified. Go ahead and raise your rates.’” For Seattle City Light, a publicly owned utility, the City of Seattle holds the reins on rate approvals.
While a $200 rebate has been proposed in the state budget for some Washington residents, Myers is blunt about its limitations: “That rebate actually probably doesn’t cover all of the increased costs, and it’s only for some people.” He reiterated, “That’s not an accident. That’s the way the system is designed.”
Despite the sting for consumers, the CCA is generating a windfall for the state. “It’s creating a lot of money, in fact, more than they even expected last year. They expected that this year would create about a billion dollars in tax revenue,” Myers noted. The state’s climate ambitions, in other words, come with a hefty price tag for households—even as they pad government coffers.
Contrast this with the situation unfolding in the United Kingdom. There, the energy market regulator Ofgem announced that typical household energy bills will fall by 7% in April 2026—the sharpest drop since the previous summer and a welcome reprieve after years of volatility. The average bill for a household using 11,500 kWh of gas and 2,700 kWh of electricity will drop by £117 (about $158), settling at £1,641 for the year. For millions on variable tariffs, this works out to roughly £10 less per month.
What’s behind the UK’s downward shift? The government has moved a large chunk of the costs for supporting renewables—such as the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Renewables Obligation (RO)—off household bills and onto general taxation. ECO funding will end on March 31, 2026, and from April, 75% of renewables costs will be covered by taxes rather than energy bills. While the government initially promised a £150 reduction, rising network costs have eaten into those savings, leaving the actual drop at £117. Still, as Ofgem’s Tim Jarvis put it, the change is “welcome news for many households.” (BBC News)
Yet, British households are hardly celebrating. Even after the reduction, bills remain about a third higher than before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered an energy crisis. The wholesale price of gas remains volatile, and other household expenses—water, council tax, and more—are on the rise. For those struggling, debt to energy suppliers has ballooned to over £4 billion, and charities warn that many vulnerable customers are still at risk. As Eileen Jordan of Ripon told the BBC, “How some people manage is beyond my comprehension. We are fortunate but only because we have been frugal.”
Political leaders are sparring over the wisdom of the government’s approach. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer insists, “I promised to bring bills down and I meant it. I know there is more to do and my government is pulling every lever to bear down on the cost of living and protect the pound in the pockets of working people.” But Conservative shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho counters that Labour is “pulling the wool over people’s eyes by moving some costs off of your energy bill and putting them straight onto your tax bill.” The debate underscores a fundamental question: should the costs of climate action be borne at the meter or through taxes?
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, American households are staring down their own energy crunch. Since 2021, electricity prices in the United States have surged nearly 40%. In 2024, the average household shelled out more than $1,800 on electricity—an eye-watering sum for many. The culprits? A perfect storm of extreme weather, rising fuel prices, and the mounting expense of repairing and modernizing an aging energy grid. According to experts, the power to address these costs lies with state lawmakers, but the issue has become a political football, with little consensus on a path forward.
In all three regions, the future of energy bills remains uncertain. While UK households will see some respite this spring, the underlying drivers of high costs—volatile fuel markets, infrastructure needs, and climate policies—remain unresolved. In Washington State, the march toward decarbonization continues to push bills higher, with only limited relief in sight. And in the United States at large, the challenge of affordable, reliable energy is as pressing as ever, with no easy answers on the horizon.
For now, families from Seattle to London to New York are left to navigate a shifting landscape, balancing the demands of climate policy, economic reality, and the simple need to keep the lights on.