Demand surcharge reported at $750 in Seattle, Portland, Spokane and Coeur d'Alene (June 2025)

BackgroundIncludes press-layer reports

Event date (reported)

Jun 23, 2025

Published

Oct 6, 2026

Last updated

Oct 6, 2026

Background This event is more than 90 days older than this page. It is kept here as dated context, not as current news.

What changed

On June 23, 2025, Broadband Breakfast reported that Starlink was charging new customers a one-time $750 demand surcharge in Portland, Seattle, Spokane and Coeur d’Alene. The same report listed $500 in Asheville, North Carolina, $250 in Anchorage and Phoenix, and $100 in Sacramento. It quoted Starlink’s checkout text: “in areas with high demand, there is an additional one-time charge to purchase Starlink services.”

A June 26, 2025 summary of PCMag’s reporting by Michael Kan added that, earlier in June, the charge had been $500 in parts of Washington, Oregon and North Carolina, and that Redmond, Washington was also in the $750 area.

What it means for you

Within about nine months of the first $100 reports, the highest reported charge had grown to $750. These reports also show the fee was no longer one national number. In the same week, buyers in different metros saw $100, $250, $500 or $750.

For a reader, the practical takeaway is the one that still holds: the amount is set for your service address and plan at the time you order, and it can change from one month to the next. Old screenshots and forum posts are a poor guide to what you will see today.

Who was affected

• New Residential customers in the named metros.
• The reports describe metros, not counties. Addresses outside these metros may have had different amounts or none.

A conflict between sources

This report lists Sacramento at $100. An April 22, 2025 report had said Sacramento rose to $250 (our item). We have not resolved the difference and keep both entries, with dates, in the press layer.

What you can check now

• Your checkout on starlink.com shows the amount for your address before you pay. If you return the hardware within Starlink’s 30-day window, its help article says an eligible surcharge is refunded.
• The county map shows these amounts as a dated press layer, separate from reader reports.
• Our guide on legitimate ways to avoid the surcharge covers waiting, plan choice and alternatives. It never suggests changing your address.

What stays the same

The charge is one-time and tied to the service address, as in every earlier report.

What we don’t know yet

• How long the $750 level lasted in each metro. A July 2, 2025 GSMGoTech report described $1,000 in parts of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and a January 2026 report described a drop to $500 in the Pacific Northwest.
• Which exact areas around each city were included.

Our data

None for this period. This is a press-layer entry.