Seattle at Night Photo

Energy the Way You Want It

We've entered a new era of customer choice in energy. Seattle City Light leads the industry in supporting new energy sources for our customers - from customer solar to batteries and storage to electric vehicles.

Power Sources

Seattle City Light's hydroelectric dams supply about half the power our customers need. The other half comes from a mix of power sources.

Seattle City Light's Power Mix

*City Light does not have coal or natural gas resources in its power supply portfolio. It does make market purchases to balance or match its loads and resources. These purchases, along with market purchases made by Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), may incidentally include coal or natural gas resources, which are assigned to the utility. Any emissions associated with unspecified market purchases are offset through our greenhouse gas (GHG) neutrality policy.
**This fuel represents a portion of the power purchased from BPA.

Learn more about our hydroelectric resources.

Power Delivery

City Light owns and operates 16 major substations and delivers electricity to over 503,000 business and residential customer premises across 131 square miles. Our dedicated crews work around the clock to ensure the safe, reliable, and efficient delivery of power to every home in our service area.

Infographic showing City Light serves a population of 940,000; 419,601 residential customers and 50,779 non-residential customers, and covers 2,330.9 distribution circuit miles

To deliver environmentally responsible, safe, low-cost, and reliable power, we must monitor and measure how effectively it is being distributed through our extensive network of transmission towers, substations, and distribution lines to get to your homes and businesses.

complex generation and distribution network infographic

  1. Power is generated from dam/powerhouse
  2. Substation transformer steps up voltage for transmission
  3. Transmission lines carry electricity long distances
  4. Neighborhood substation transformer steps down voltage
  5. Distribution lines carry electricity to residents
  6. Transformers on poles step down electricity before entering residence
  7. Service line for resident

See what current improvement projects are underway in your neighborhood.

Environmental Leadership

In addition to delivering the cleanest power available, we practice careful resource management and habitat protection.

Learn more about our environmental commitment.

Community Engagement

As a publicly owned utility, City Light—and its employees—are deeply committed to the community. Discover how we engage with our diverse community, from our support for education programs to our participation in community events, employee giving, and volunteerism.

Our Commitment to You

At Seattle City Light our main goal is to keep you, our valued customer, satisfied. As a public utility, we promise to give you the best service possible.

City Light

Dawn Lindell, General Manager and CEO
Address: 700 5th Ave, Seattle, WA, 98104
Mailing Address: PO Box 34023, Seattle, WA, 98124-4023
Phone: (206) 684-3000
SCL_ExternalComms@seattle.gov

Seattle City Light was created by the citizens of Seattle in 1902 to provide affordable, reliable, and environmentally responsible electric power to the City of Seattle and neighboring suburbs.