![]() ![]() The choice boiled down to digging more wells - not always successfully - or tapping the Green River and letting gravity move water to Tacoma. Consumers complained of dirty, bad smelling, bad tasting water and the City struggled to find a dependable and safe source of drinking water. An equivalent amount was lost when a dam on Galliher’s Gulch failed. The city engineer looked at the newly acquired water system and estimated that it lost 1.5 million gallons a day. But the city pressed ahead to secure additional water and power sources. Some of the creeks were not owned by Tacoma Light and Water at all and the wells produced less water than advertised. Tacoma soon learned that the deal was somewhat one sided. Voters approved the deal on April 11, 1893, and on July 1, Tacoma was in the utility business. The parties struck a deal of $1.75 million for the water and electrical properties. He suggested that the City buy the company. Wright, who controlled Tacoma Light and Water from Philadelphia, became impatient with both the criticism and the slow rate of return on his investment. With the monopoly of the franchise, he could charge what the market would bear and customer service was an afterthought.īy 1890, Tacomans were unhappy with the quality, reliability, and cost of the water supply. He used the flow to power a small dynamo that first lighted Tacoma streets in late 1885. The company drew drinking water from several creeks and distributed it through pipes made from hollowed-out logs. Wright (1822-1898) organized the Tacoma Light and Water Co. In 1884, Philadelphia capitalist and railroad man Charles B. After more than 100 years of operation, Tacoma Public Utilities operates a wide network of dams, reservoirs, pumping and power stations, and a small but vital railroad. Our customers paid $5.Tacoma’s electrical and water utilities, its industrial railroad, and its telecommunications system all grew out of a need to serve the community coupled with frustration at the ability of private companies to provide services.Tacoma Power paid $4.4 million toward energy conservation projects.$9.9 million investment in customer conservation projects.48.2 million kilowatt-hour savings (18.1 residential 24.7 commercial/industrial).23 Bonneville Power Administration customer substations.Of that, 46% is provided by our hydroelectric projects. Our energy supply equals 89% hydroelectric energy. kilowatt-hours per dayĪverage cost per household: $1,112 per year / $93 per month Energy supply 2,386 miles of transmission and distribution lines (1,524 overhead 862 underground)Īverage use per household: 11,761 kilowatt-hours per year / 32.2.162,368 residential customers (55% inside city limits 45% outside city limits). ![]() We will continue to serve our customers in Tacoma and neighboring communities and serve new markets to benefit both existing and new customers. 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. Tacoma Power is an innovative, citizen-owned electric utility that generates, transmits and distributes electricity and provides energy and telecommunication services in an increasingly competitive marketplace. We are a division of Tacoma Public Utilities and are governed by a five-member Public Utility Board. View a more detailed map of our service area. 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. Water Construction & Development Services.Cargo and Material Handling Equipment Incentives.Environmental Services – City of Tacoma. ![]()
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