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2025 Tacoma Power Highlights

Cushman power line

Overview 

Tacoma Power delivers clean, reliable services essential to quality of life. For over 130 years, we have generated clean, renewable hydropower to provide reliable, affordable electricity for our customers. 

2025 Key Metrics

  • Served about 196,761 customers (up from 195,113 in 2024). 
  • Maintained 99.9867% service availability. 
  • Average outage duration: ~ 70 minutes, excluding major storms. 

Fisheries Highlights

  • Cushman: 1,103,153 fish reared and released and transported 62,981 at fish passage facilities.  
  • Cowlitz: 7,077,924 fish reared and released and transported 567,078 at fish passage facilities. 

Major accomplishments  

  • Negotiated and signed new long-term power supply contract with Bonneville Power Administration. 
  • Launched the TPU Situational Awareness Dashboard to provide real-time geographic insights for employees to understand what and where events are occurring throughout the service area. 
  • Released the online Basic Electricity Course, expanding access to apprenticeship prep learning (213 accounts created; 49 course completions). 
  • Completed the second year of hiring for the Electrical Trainee Pre-Apprenticeship Program (595 eligible applicants and three selected and accepted). All 2024-2025 participants obtained City of Tacoma positions after completing the program. 

Key Metrics, Milestones, and Strategic Activities 

  • Cowlitz Hydro Project: 99.99% uptime 
  • Nisqually Hydro Project: 98.41% uptime 
  • Cushman Hydro Project: 99.90% uptime 
  •  Wynoochee Hydro Project: 100% uptime 
  • 93.2% Customer Satisfaction from Tacoma Power Parks 
  • Replaced damaged transformers at Elk Plain and Graham substation. 
  • Completed 34,933 underground locates. 
  • Prepared to join Markets+, a regional organized day-ahead electricity market to support lower costs and improve reliability. 
  • Coordinated water management and community updates during December atmospheric river events.
  • Implemented Unified Technology Intake process  
  • Established Business Relationship Management  
  • Maintained 99.98% OT network uptime 
  • Achieved 97% phishing proficiency across TPU 
  • ADMS program approval and kick off 

Major Projects

Purpose: Complete replacement of remaining obsolete power meters with advanced meters. 

Milestone: Project completed. 

Impact: Improved billing efficiency, enhanced outage response, and increased operational visibility. 

Purpose: Line crews replaced over 70 poles and upgraded wire, including covered conductor. 

Milestone: Project completed. 

Impact: Strengthens fire mitigation, increases load capability, improves voltage stability, enhances reliability and helps meet NESC strength requirements. 

Purpose: Relocate backbone and ring fiber segments with WSDOT, exceeded 20,000 feet each. 

Milestone: Project completion. 

Operational Performance

We continued to reinforce system reliability and infrastructure maintenance. 

  • Line Clearance crews (tree crews) trimmed 365-line miles and 664 circuit miles and inspected 448 circuits. 
  • Developed automated environmental compliance task tracking, reminder notification system, and centralized compliance status across all TPU operations. 
  • The FERC Regulations & Compliance included the EAP (Emergency Action Plan) Annual Training for response personnel, EAP Annual Phone Drill at each hydroelectric project (performed quarterly), and culminated with the EAP Tabletop and Functional Exercise at Wynoochee Hydro Project.   

Strategic Objective Areas

We continued to improve service reliability and customer engagement. 

  • Advance meters now provide near-instant outage detection. 73% of customers in a third-party customer satisfaction survey rated electric service 8–10 out of 10 in 2025 (aligned with TPU’s overall score of 71%). 
  • Released Safe Work Practices (Arc Flash, Bloodborne Pathogens, Fire Watch, Rafting) to strengthen workplace safety and consistency. 
  • Launched the Job Shadow program to provide opportunities for employees to share knowledge, increase awareness, make connections, and build camaraderie with other workgroups. 

We focused on modernization, maintenance, and system efficiency. 

  • Achieved 91% compliance with Fleet Preventative Maintenance Orders. 
  • Rebuilt 72 overhead transformers. 
  • Re-cabled 10 substation feeders. 
  • Re-gasketed and processed transformers. 
  • Completed feeder relay replacements at Frederickson Substation. 
  • Completed vault construction and upgrades supporting Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. 

Living Our TPU Values

Note: Corrective Actions and Leadership site visits were not standard operational expectations for all divisions, and the data may reflect this inconsistency. Additionally, due to limitations with the existing data platform, some divisions tracked their own data independently, some of which may or may not be fully represented here. 

  • Conducted a Wynoochee Hydro functional exercise with local, state, and federal partners. 
  • Earned the APPA Diamond Safety Award of Excellence and RP3 Diamond status. 
  • Delivered updated Safe Work Practices and help annual Safety Excellence Recognition events at four locations. 

Overall Safety Stats (2025 compared to 2024)  

  • Total Recordable Injury Rates: 32 (up from 27) 
  • DART (Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred) Rate: 16 (equal to 2024 ) 
  • Supported accessible learning through the Basic Electricity Course and Electrical Trainee Pre-Apprenticeship Programs were offered. 
  • Celebrated employees at the annual Tacoma Power Safety Excellence Recognition Event. 
  • Attended 41 community events (e.g., Festivals and Community Resource events-), engaging with 1,617 customers about conservation and energy programs.  
  • The Metropolitan Development Council received our $50,000 Evergreen Options Grant to install a 40kW solar array on their downtown building. 
  • Completed the Western Electricity Coordinating Council’s triennial audit of North American Electric Reliability Corporation standards. 
  • Completed the advanced meter installation project, improving transparency and system insight. 
  • Continued environmental stewardship responsibility through fisheries work, habitat restoration, and energy conservation programs. 
  • Sockeye and Chinook releases and returns (see Section 1). 
  • Shade Tree Program: 2,143 tree coupons requested; 595 redeemed; and 1,372 trees planted. 
  • Monitored and coordinated regional partners during the Bear Gulch Fire, ensuring operational awareness and community safety. 
  • Managed reservoir levels for 10 days during December storms and quickly restored power after a windstorm that affected 20,000 customers. 

Financial Summary 

We maintained strong financial health in 2025, supporting system reliability and ongoing investments. 

Financial performance 

  • Met or exceeded key financial metrics while advancing capital and operational priorities. 

Cost drivers and savings 

  • Reduced spending through equipment repair and rehabilitation. 
  • Continued to experience rising costs for materials and equipment, adding rate pressure. 

External funding 

  • Secured more than $5 million through grants and federal tax incentives, to help offset project costs and reduce customer rate impact. 

2025 Tacoma Power Financial Highlights  

2025 Tacoma Power Financial Report  

Conclusion 

In 2025, Tacoma Power advanced long-term reliability, customer service, and operational excellence across the utility. In 2026, we remain committed to delivering affordable, reliable services while strengthening efficiencies and improving outcomes for the customers and communities we serve.