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Customer Service
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Call (206) 684-3000
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Message from the Superintendent,
Jorge Carrasco
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Seattle City Light plays an important role in Seattle's history as well as the history of public power in the Pacific Northwest. Created by the citizens of Seattle in 1902, City Light began delivering electricity to customers in 1905. The utility built four major hydroelectric power plants in its first 100 years, and today they generate about half of Seattle's power needs.
Resource stewardship has been integral to City Light. Energy conservation has long been an important power resource. Conservation helps customers lower their electric bills while reducing their need for electricity. As our customer base increases, we can offset some of our electrical power requirements through conservation. In addition, a growing percentage of our power comes from renewable power resources such as wind and solar. It's all a part of our commitment to sustainability and to environmental protection.
Another example of City Light's resource stewardship is our fish biology program. City Light began caring for fish and other natural resources that might have been affected by our operations, long before such practices were required in the industry. The utility carries these traditions proudly into its next century of service.
Seattle City Light is a publicly owned utility dedicated to exceeding our customers' expectations in producing and delivering low cost, reliable power in an environmentally responsible and safe way. We are committed to delivering the best customer service experience of any utility in the nation.
Jorge Carrasco
Superintendent
Seattle City Light
We're Your Electric Utility
On March 4, 1902, Seattle voters took a bold step by approving bonds to build a hydroelectric power plant on the city's newly established Cedar River watershed to supply electricity for street lights.
At the time, the Seattle Electric Company, then a part of the national Stone & Webster cartel and a distant ancestor of today's Puget Sound Energy, was the dominant private electrical utility and owned or controlled most of the city's streetcar and interurban lines. The Cedar Falls Plant was completed and assumed Seattle's streetlight load on January 1, 1905. Cedar Falls still provides electricity today, and is the oldest continually operating, publicly owned hydro plant in the U.S.
Guided by a young visionary named James D. Ross (right, as he appeared in 1911), the new utility powered its first street lights on January 10, 1905, and began serving private customers by the following September. Such competition precipitated an unavoidable clash with private interests, which pursued an aggressive media and political campaign against public power for decades to come.
City Light became an independent municipal department in April 1910 and went on to establish a record of innovation and efficiency envied around the world. It developed an extraordinary hydroelectric resource on the Upper Skagit River beginning in 1919 and, in 1967, completed the Boundary Hydroelectric Project on northeastern Washington's Pend Oreille River. City Light acquired the last private electrical assets and customers within the Seattle city limits in 1950. The utility became a partner with other public and private utilities throughout the region, developing a model system for generating, distributing, and managing electricity for the greater public good.
Seattle City Light Executive Team
Contact Points
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Seattle City Light Administrative Office
Seattle Municipal Tower
700 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3200
Seattle WA 98104-5031
(5th Avenue between Columbia and Cherry streets)
206.684.3200
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 34023
Seattle, WA 98124-4023
206.684.3000
www.seattle.gov/light/
Spanish Web Site:
www.seattle.gov/light/spanish/
North Service Center
1300 N. 97th Street
Seattle WA 98103
South Service Center
3613 4th Ave S
Seattle WA 98134
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Phone Numbers
Outage Hotline
206.684.7400
Customer Service Call Center
206.684.3000
Out of area calls:
800.862.1181
(Interpreters are available.)
Account Information
Payment Assistance
Payment Locations
Bill Information and Dispute Resolution
Rates Information
Green Renewable Energy Information
TTY/Hearing Impaired
206.233.7241
Electrical Service and Streetlight Service
North of Denny Way:
206.615.0600
South of Denny Way:
206.386.4200
Streetlight Problems
206.684.7056
Conservation Information (Residential and Commercial)
206.684.3800
After-Hours Electrical Emergency Line
206.706.0051
Vegetation Management/Powerline Clearance
206.386.1663
Annual Report Information
206.684.3832
Skagit Tours
206.684.3030
www.SkagitTours.com
Communications and Public Affairs
206.684.3090
Web Address:
www.seattle.gov/light/
General Information
For the Year Ended December 31, 2005
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Seattle City Light, a department of the City of Seattle, is one of the nation's largest municipally-owned utilities in terms of the number of customers served. City Light is supported by revenues from its customers, not taxes. In fact, City Light pays substantial taxes to state and local governments.
Service Territory
| Service area population |
738,400 |
| Service area size |
131.31 sq mi |
| Personnel (full-time equivalent positions) |
1,560 |
| Major substations |
15 |
| Unit substations |
5 |
| Commercial and Industrial substations |
51 |
| Transmission circuit (miles) |
657 |
| Distribution circuit (miles) |
2,470 |
| Meters |
381,466 |
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Customer Statistics
For the Year Ended December 31, 2005
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Average Number of Customers
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Kilowatt Hours (in 000's)
A
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Residential
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336,363
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2,954,848
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Non-residential
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39,506
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6,206,617
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Total
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375,869
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9,161,465
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A
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Amounts include an allocation for the net change in unbilled revenue.
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Average Rate Per Kilowatt Hour (cents)
A,B
For the Year Ended December 31, 2005
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| Residential |
Seattle
National |
6.62*
9.42 |
| Non-residential |
Seattle
National |
5.91*
7.30 |
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A |
Source of national data: Department of Energy |
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B |
Seattle accounts include an allocation for the net change in unbilled revenue. |
<
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2007/2008 rates: approximately 5.63 cents, system-wide |
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Note: |
The most recent rate adjustment was effective January 1, 2007. Rates are set by the Seattle City Council. Notice of public hearings on future rate actions may be obtained on request from The Office of the City Clerk, City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue, Floor Three, Seattle, WA 98104. Additional information about public hearings can be found on the Web at
www.seattle.gov/council/hearings_forums.htm. Additional information about Council meetings can be found on the web at www.seattle.gov/council/. |
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How We Compare:
Seattle City Light is proud to offer its residents the lowest-cost electricity in urban America.
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Power Supply
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City Light Plants |
Location |
Date In Service |
Capacity (MW) |
% of
Total |
| Boundary |
Pend Oreille River |
8/23/67
1 |
1,070.1 |
55.7 |
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Ross |
Skagit River |
12/30/52 |
460.0 |
24.0 |
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Gorge |
Skagit River |
9/27/24 |
172.7 |
9.0 |
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Diablo |
Skagit River |
10/20/36 |
169.3 |
8.8 |
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Cedar Falls |
Cedar River |
10/14/04 |
30.0 |
1.6 |
| S. Fork Tolt |
S. Fork Tolt River |
11/20/95 |
16.0 |
0.8 |
| Newhalem |
Newhalem Creek |
1921 |
2.3 |
0.1 |
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Total System Generation Capability |
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1,920.4 |
100.0 |
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1- Two additional hydro units of 399 MW capacity installed in 1986.
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Fuel Mix for Year 2005
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Generation Type
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Percentage
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| Hydro
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86.45
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| Natural Gas
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5.28
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| Nuclear
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4.23
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| Wind
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3.06
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| Coal
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0.89
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| Other
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0.09
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TOTAL
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100.00
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Meeting Our Customers' Power Needs:
Seattle's city-owned hydroelectric plants depend on rain and snow as their "fuel." In years with normal precipitation, our plants supply more than half of Seattle's power needs. We must make up the difference by purchasing power from outside the region.
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Conservation Programs Save Energy
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Seattle City Light has operated conservation programs for 29 years, since 1977. In 2005, conservation reduced City Light's electric system load by 972,930 megawatt hours. That is enough electricity to power 115,000 Seattle homes—one-third of our residential service. These savings accrued from measures installed during 1982-2005.
The energy savings acquired through City Light's conservation programs since 1977 could power the homes of nearly four cities the size of Seattle—or the entire Utility load for 2005, with 25% to spare.
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Conservation Programs Cut CO2 Emissions
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In 2005, the release of 421,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere was avoided because of our programs. That is equivalent to 84,140 households driving one less car for a year. This impact will continue for the next 18 years, as long as the conservation measures installed continue to save energy.
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Conservation Customers Save on Electric Bills
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- From 1977-2005, program participants saved $493 million on their bills. Half of these savings went to residential customers.
- In 2005, conservation customers reduced their City Light bills by $63 million.
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Public Purpose Expenditures
For the Year Ended December 31, 2005
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Seattle City Light invests in its consumers through conservation programs, energy assistance to low-income customers, and acquisition of renewable energy resources. In 2005 Seattle City Light spent 7.9% of revenues on these public purposes.
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Conservation
A
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Non-programmatic conservation expenses
B |
$1,958,230 |
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Conservation Programs
C |
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Non-low income |
16,421,573 |
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Low income |
1,232,744 |
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External Conservation Funding |
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Customer Obligation Repayments
D |
(38,452) |
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Low-Income Energy Assistance
E
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6,511,078 |
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Non-Hydro Renewable Resources
F
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18,104,269 |
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Net public purpose spending |
$44,189,442 |
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Revenue from retail electric sales |
$562,548,318 |
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Percent public purpose spending |
7.9% |
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Energy Savings in year 2005 (MWh)
G |
970,249 |
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Public Purpose Spending Notes:
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A- Programmatic conservation expenditures are deferred and amortized over a 20-year period in accordance with City Council-passed resolutions.
B- Non-programmatic expenditures are expensed and include support of energy codes and activities that encourage utility customers to adopt new technologies on their own, manufacturers to produce more efficient technologies, program planning, evaluation, data processing, and general administration. These expenses are not associated with measured energy savings.
C- Non-low income programmatic conservation includes expenditures for program measures, customer incentives, field staff salaries, and direct program administration. Low-income programmatic conservation includes the same types of expenditures for the Department's HomeWise and Low-Income Multifamily Programs.
D- Customer obligations repaid in each year include payments on outstanding five-year or ten-year loans, plus repayments in the first year after project completion for utility-financed customers.
E- Low-income assistance includes rate discounts and other programs that provide assistance to low income customers.
F- The purchased power contract with King County for West Point cogeneration has expired and has not been renewed. Currently, and going forward, this cogeneration is adjusted on the County retail bill. Therefore there were zero MWh in 2005 from this source. Current non-hydro renewable resources include power generated from the Stateline Wind Project, which is funded from current revenues. The Department purchased 140,850 MWh from the Stateline Wind Project in 2002, 220,317 MWh in
2003, 360,206 MWh in 2004, and 352,069 MWh in 2005. Of these purchases, 106,493 MWh were delivered in 2002, 216,290 MWh in 2003, 348,672 MWh in 2004, and 327,332 MWh in 2005.
G- Energy savings in each year are from cumulative conservation program participants, for completed projects with unexpired measure lifetimes. |
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Taxes and Contributions to the Cost of Government
For the Year Ended December 31, 2005
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Taxes |
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City of Seattle occupation tax |
$33,393,646 |
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State public utility and business taxes |
21,457,092 |
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Suburban contract payments and other |
3,416,818 |
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Contract payments for government services |
2,357,710 |
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Total taxes as shown in statement of Revenues and Expenses |
60,625,266 |
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Taxes/licenses charged to accounts other than taxes |
9,029,735 |
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Other contributions to the cost of government |
2,161,182 |
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Total miscellaneous taxes |
11,190,917 |
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Total taxes and contributions |
$71,816,183 |
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Note: Electric rates include all taxes and contributions. The State Public Utility Tax for retail electric power sales was 3.873%. The City of Seattle Occupation Utility Tax was 6% for in-state retail electric power sales and 5% for out-of-state retail electric power sales. |
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To request a copy of this information in booklet form, phone City Light Communications and Public Affairs at 206-684-3090.
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