(Photo by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images) If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you might be forced to pay an extra $500 to subscribe to Starlink. SpaceX is quietly doubling the cost of the "demand surcharge" for Starlink in parts of Oregon and Washington state, where the satellite internet service faces limited network capacity. On Tuesday, a Reddit user who lives north of Seattle reported the $500 demand surcharge, which is more than the $349 price for the Starlink dish itself. “What gives? $500 is INSANE! Seems like a ridiculous charge to take advantage of those who don’t have other options,” they wrote. (Credit: Starlink.com) It’s a significant increase from when the demand surcharge, previously known as the congestion fee, was only $100. In April, SpaceX then increased the surcharge to $250 for select areas where Starlink was already at capacity. On the plus side, the company has removed the waitlist for Starlink across the US for consumers looking to subscribe to the residential plan. But it looks like SpaceX has increased the demand surcharge for select areas to prevent overloading the network with new subscribers. Although the $500 one-time fee is high, SpaceX appears to be imposing the surcharge in more urban and suburban areas of Washington and Oregon, including Seattle and Portland, where other ground-based internet services are usually available. Recommended by Our Editors