About Tacoma Power
Tacoma Power provides electric service to the city of Tacoma, Fircrest, University Place, Fife, parts of Steilacoom, Lakewood, Joint Base Lewis-McChord and unincorporated Pierce County as far south as Roy. That’s about 186,975 customers. View a more detailed map of our service area.
We have been publicly owned since 1893. We are a division of Tacoma Public Utilities and are governed by a five-member Public Utility Board.
Our Mission
Tacoma Power is an innovative, resident-owned electric utility that generates, transmits and distributes electricity and provides energy in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
We are committed to providing high-value, competitively priced products and services to our customers through the quality of our employees, and the responsiveness that results from local ownership.
We will continue to serve our customers in Tacoma and neighboring communities and serve new markets to benefit both existing and new customers.
Quick Facts
Basic stats
- 180 square miles of service area
- 762 employees
- 166,770 residential customers (55% inside city limits; 45% outside city limits)
- 20,205 commercial customers
- 2,386 miles of transmission and distribution lines (1,524 overhead; 862 underground)
Power use
Average use per household: 11,761 kilowatt-hours per year / 32.2. kilowatt-hours per day
Average cost per household: $1,112 per year / $93 per month
Energy supply
Our energy supply equals 89% hydroelectric energy. Of that, 46% is provided by our hydroelectric projects.
Substations
- 4 main/transmission substations
- 5 switching stations
- 49 distribution substations
- 14 dedicated distribution substations
- 23 Bonneville Power Administration customer substations
- 8 generation switchyards
Conservation
- 48.2 million kilowatt-hour savings (18.1 residential; 24.7 commercial/industrial)
- $9.9 million investment in customer conservation projects
- Tacoma Power paid $4.4 million toward energy conservation projects
- Our customers paid $5.5 million toward energy conservation projects
Financials
Value of our fixed assets: $1.009 B
Total operating revenue: $454.3 M
Bond ratings
- Fitch: AA-
- Moody’s: Aa3
- Standard & Poor’s: AA
2020 data
History
Tacoma Power is a proud member of the National Hydropower Association
Tacoma Power was established in 1893 when the residents of Tacoma voted to buy the privately-owned Tacoma Light & Water Company. Local citizens believed that public ownership and local control would give them a higher caliber of services and the ability to maintain control over them. That decision paved the way for us to build one of the finest and most reliable electric systems in the United States.
Today, Tacoma Power, a division of Tacoma Public Utilities, is a community-owned, not-for-profit energy provider. For over a century, our City of Tacoma and Pierce County customers have depended on us for safe and reliable energy.
Our clean energy future will be built on a solid foundation of renewable, carbon-free hydropower, while we expand to include innovative energy technologies.
We commit to continue making thoughtful and responsible choices about our financial and environmental resources.