City of Tacoma electricity rates
City of Tacoma charges an average of 10.81 cents per kilowatt-hour to residential customers, and the average household on its system paid $98 a month using 907 kilowatt-hours, according to its 2024 filing with the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Municipal utility TPWR Washington
Where City of Tacoma sits
It serves 180,357 residential customers in Washington. At 10.81¢ per kilowatt-hour it is one of the cheaper places to buy electricity in Washington, 27.7% under the statewide average of 14.95¢.
Consumption is close to the national norm at 907 kilowatt-hours a month against 871, so the rate translates fairly directly into the bill.
Owned by the city it serves and governed by a local board rather than the state commission. No shareholder return is built into the rate. That matters because a bill is not only the cost of generating electricity: it also carries the cost of the network, and who owns that network changes how it is paid for.
| Rate | Monthly bill | Monthly kWh | |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Tacoma | 10.81¢ | $98 | 907 |
| Washington average | 14.95¢ | $130 | 936 |
| United States average | 18.44¢ | $155 | 871 |
Utility figures: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2024. State and national figures: Electric Power Monthly, May 2026. Methodology
Where City of Tacoma delivers
Its service territory covers 4 Washington counties, either wholly or in part. Utility boundaries follow historic franchise agreements rather than county lines, so a county appearing here does not mean every address in it is served by City of Tacoma.
- King
- Lewis
- Mason
- Pierce
How often the power goes out
In 2024 the average City of Tacoma customer went 171 minutes without electricity across 0.93 interruptions. The median across the 941 utilities that report this is 185 minutes.
That is better than the typical American utility, though the figure includes major storm days and can move sharply from one year to the next.
Rooftop solar on this system
2,780 residential customers had net-metered solar in 2024, totalling 18.21 megawatts. That works out to 15.4 installations per thousand customers, against a median of 8 across the utilities reporting it.
Adoption is above the national median, which generally tracks the retail rate more closely than it tracks sunshine. What exports are actually worth.
Other Washington utilities
| Utility | Rate | Bill | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puget Sound Energy Inc | 14.63¢ | $128 | 1.1 million |
| City of Seattle | 14.09¢ | $85 | 459,964 |
| Avista Corp | 11.87¢ | $107 | 246,055 |
| PUD No 1 of Clark County | 10.41¢ | $105 | 219,477 |
| PacifiCorp | 11.08¢ | $131 | 114,453 |
City of Tacoma rates: common questions
How much does City of Tacoma charge per kilowatt-hour?
An average of 10.81 cents per kilowatt-hour across its residential customers in 2024. That is -27.7% against the Washington average of 14.95¢ and -41.4% against the national average of 18.44¢. It is an all-in average across every residential rate schedule the utility offers, not a specific tariff.
What is the average City of Tacoma bill?
$98 a month, based on total residential revenue divided by residential customers over the 2024 survey year, at an average of 907 kWh a month. The national average bill is $155 at 871 kWh.
Who owns City of Tacoma?
It is classified by the EIA as a municipal utility. Owned by the city it serves and governed by a local board rather than the state commission. No shareholder return is built into the rate.
Is City of Tacoma expensive compared with other Washington utilities?
It ranks #13 of the 34 Washington utilities covered here, counting from the most expensive. Nationally it ranks #1220 of 1369.