Puget Sound Energy (PSE) is an energy utility company based in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

that provides

electrical power Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt, one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with other SI units: thousands, millions and billions of ...

and

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

to the

Puget Sound region The Puget Sound region is a coastal area of the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. state of Washington, including Puget Sound, the Puget Sound lowlands, and the surrounding region roughly west of the Cascade Range and east of the Olympic Mountains. ...

. The utility serves electricity to more than 1.1 million customers in

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

, Kitsap, Kittitas,

Pierce Pierce may refer to: Places Canada * Pierce Range, a mountain range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia United States * Pierce, Colorado * Pierce, Idaho * Pierce, Illinois * Pierce, Kentucky * Pierce, Nebraska * Pierce, Texas * Pierce, We ...

, Skagit, Thurston, and Whatcom counties, and provides natural gas to 750,000 customers in King, Kittitas,

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

, Pierce, Snohomish and Thurston counties. The company's electric and natural gas service area spans .

Facilities

PSE's electric supplies include utility-owned resources as well as those under long-term contract, for a total capacity of 5,044

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...

(MW). While PSE-owned generating capacity is at 3,597 MW. PSE owns coal, hydroelectric, natural gas and wind power-generating facilities, with more than 3,500 MW of capacity. In 2018, PSE's generation was 36% coal, 32% hydroelectric, 20% natural gas, and 10% wind derived. Less than one percent originated from other energy efficiency programs. Coal accounted for 36% of PSE's electricity fuel mix in 2018. PSE's partial ownership of Eastern Montana's

Colstrip Colstrip is a city in Rosebud County, Montana, Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,096 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Established in 1924 and incorporated as a city in 1998, Colstrip is the largest city in ...

Generating Station represents the single largest power-generating facility PSE owns, approximately 700 MW of generating capacity. In 2010, the Colstrip Generating station was the 8th largest greenhouse gas emitter among power plants in the United States. Hydroelectricity generated 31% of PSE's power supply in 2016. The company operates three hydroelectric facilities: * The Baker River Hydroelectric Project on the Baker River, generating 170 MW of electricity. *

Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric Plant The Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric Plant is located just north of Snoqualmie in King County, Washington state, US. It is situated about east of Seattle. Located just below the Snoqualmie Falls, the power plant consists of two power houses, Plan ...

, two power plants on the

Snoqualmie River The Snoqualmie River is a long river in King County and Snohomish County in the U.S. state of Washington. The river's three main tributaries are the North, Middle, and South Forks, which drain the west side of the Cascade Mountains near the town ...

in King County, generating 44 MW. * The

Electron Hydroelectric Project The Electron Hydroelectric Project, originally known as the Puyallup Project, is a hydroelectric power plant operated by Electron Hydro LLC on the Puyallup River in Pierce County, Washington. It generates of electricity and is operated and m ...

on the

Puyallup River The Puyallup River ( ) is a river in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. About long, it is formed by glaciers on the west side of Mount Rainier. It flows generally northwest, emptying into Commencement Bay, part of Puget Sound. The ...

in Pierce County generates 22 MW of electricity. Natural gas-fired power generation accounted for 22% of the utility's electricity fuel mix in 2016. The company operates these natural gas-fired facilities: * The Sumas Generating Station in Whatcom County is a cogeneration natural gas-fired plant capable of generating 125 MW of electricity. * The Ferndale Generating Station in Whatcom County is a combined-cycle natural gas-fired plant capable of generating 270 MW of electricity. * The Encogen Generating Station in Whatcom County is a combined-cycle natural gas-fired plant capable of generating 167 MW of electricity. * The Goldendale Generating Station in Klickitat County is a combined-cycle natural gas-fired plant capable of generating 277 MW of electricity. * The Mint Farm Generating Station in Cowlitz County is a combined-cycle natural-gas-fired plant capable of generating 310 MW of electricity. * The Fredonia Generating Station in Skagit County is a simple-cycle natural gas-fired plant capable of generating 316 MW of electricity. * The Frederickson Generating Station in Pierce County is a simple-cycle natural gas-fired plant capable of generating 147 MW of electricity. * The Frederickson 1 Generating Station in Pierce County is a combined-cycle natural gas-fired plant capable of generating 275 MW of electricity. PSE owns a 50% share, or 137 MW. * The

Whitehorn Generating Station The Whitehorn Generating Station is a power plant near Blaine, Washington, owned by Puget Sound Energy and located immediately west of BP's Cherry Point Refinery. The plant comprises two 75 MW natural gas-fueled combustion turbines. History ...

in Whatcom County is a simple-cycle natural gas-fired plant capable of generating 147 MW of electricity. Wind power and other generation sources, such as biomass and

landfill gas Landfill gas is a mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill as they decompose organic waste, including for example, food waste and paper waste. Landfill gas is approximately forty to sixty percent methane, ...

, account for 1% of the utility's electricity fuel mix. PSE owns and operates these wind-power facilities: * The Hopkins Ridge Wind Facility in southeast Washington's Columbia County began commercial production in 2005. Hopkins Ridge's 87 wind turbines have the capacity to generate 157 MW of electricity. * The Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility in central Washington's Kittitas County began production in 2006 and was expanded to include 22 turbines in 2009. Wild Horse's 149 wind turbines have the capacity to generate 273 MW of electricity. * In 2012, the first phase of the Lower Snake River Wind Project began in Southeast Washington's Garfield County. Lower Snaker River Phase 1's 149 turbines have the capacity to generate 343 MW of electricity. Coal-fired power is a major contributor to PSe's fuel mix at 36% of PSE's 2018 electricity generation sources, the largest share in 2018. The company owns a stake of the Colstrip Unit 3 coal power plant in eastern Montana. A

net metering Net metering (or net energy metering, NEM) is an electricity billing mechanism that allows consumers who generate some or all of their own electricity to use that electricity anytime, instead of when it is generated. This is particularly importa ...

program allows residential and business customers to return extra renewable energy solar power to the grid. An additional approximately 1% per year of generation comes from—or actually is reduced by—state mandated I-937 energy efficiency programs, adding an average 25 additional "

Negawatts A negawatt market is a proposed idea of implementation of the demand response ( balancing the electrical grid through the changes in consumption) that uses an energy market where the commodity traded is a ''negawatt-hour'', a unit of energy sa ...

" generation capacity per year. For its natural gas service to customers, PSE purchases a portfolio of natural gas supplies originating in western Canada and the U.S. Rocky Mountain states.

History

PSE was formed in 1997 when two of its largest ancestral companies – Puget Sound Power & Light Company and Washington Energy Company – merged. In 2009 Puget Sound Energy was sold to foreign investors led by

Macquarie Group Macquarie Group Limited () is an Australian global financial services group. Headquartered and listed in Australia (), Macquarie employs more than 17,000 staff in 33 markets, is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager and Australia' ...

, in a leveraged private equity buyout. Puget Holdings, the U.S. title of this group of long-term infrastructure investors, merged with Puget Energy, PSE's parent company to form the current business structure. Puget Energy is a holding company incorporated in the State of Washington. All of its operations are conducted through its utility subsidiary, PSE, which is regulated by

Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) is a three-member board appointed by the Governor of Washington and confirmed by the Washington State Senate to six-year terms. The purpose of the UTC is to regulate the rates, services, ...

. In 2018, Macquarie sold its ownership stake in PSE. PSE's current owners are

Alberta Investment Management Corporation Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) is an Albertan Crown corporation and institutional investor established to manage several public funds and pensions headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. AIMCo was established by an act of the Legi ...

, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation,

OMERS The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) is a Canadian public pension fund, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. OMERS is a defined benefit, jointly sponsored, multi-employer public pension plan created in 1962 by Ontario provinc ...

, and

PGGM Stichting Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (known as PFZW, formerly PGGM, translation: "Pension Fund for Care and Well-Being") is the second largest pension fund in the Netherlands. As of 31 December 2014, PFZW had total assets under management of ...

Rates and emissions

Puget Sound Energy rates show a typical residential electrical bill (at 1000 kwh per month) of $102.56 and typical a gas bill (at 68 therms per month) of $86. In 2018, PSE reported total carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions of 10,512,364 metric tons due to electricity operations and 4,989,403 metric tons due to natural gas operations, which equate to 9 and 6 metric tons per customer respectively. PSE figures emissions of 0.169 metric tons per user according to EPA GHG MRR Subpart DD.

References

{{authority control Electric power companies of the United States Public utilities of the United States Hydroelectric power companies of the United States Natural gas companies of the United States Companies based in Bellevue, Washington American companies established in 1997 Public utilities established in 1997 1997 establishments in Washington (state)