Our history
PSE has a rich history of energy leadership, ground-breaking innovation and dedicated service to our customers and local communities.
Here’s an at-a-glance timeline, with notable energy milestones.
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1873 New Year's EveSeattle Gas Light Company, the earliest PSE predecessor established this same year, introduces the Washington Territory to manufactured gas lighting.
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1879Thomas Edison invents the first long-lasting incandescent light bulb.
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1883Charles Fritts builds the first genuine solar cell.
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1884The electric alternator is invented, an electric generator producing alternating current (AC) better for sending electricity over long distances.
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1886Thanks to Seattle Electric Light Company, a PSE predecessor, the Puget Sound region receives electric service from a central power plant.
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1898PSE predecessor Puget Sound Power and Light builds the region's first large hydroelectric plant at Snoqualmie Falls.
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1932PSE predecessors build the Columbia River's first massive hydropower plant, the Rock Island Dam, now owned and operated by Chelan County Public Utility District.
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Mid 1930sPSE predecessor Puget Sound Power and Light goes to Hollywood, filming energy's role in society in "Looking Forward" — a quaint and pure public relations effort of the day.
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1937The Bonneville Dam begins delivering electric power from the Columbia River.
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1956The Puget Sound region receives its first natural gas service from the Washington Natural Gas Company, a PSE predecessor.
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1994
The first solar dish generator is tied to a utility grid.
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1997PSE adopts its name and current structure upon the merger of Puget Sound Power and Light Company and Washington Energy Company.
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2005With two wind facilities complete (Wild Horse and Hopkins Ridge), PSE is the single largest producer of renewable energy in the Pacific Northwest.
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2012PSE completes its third and largest wind project, the 343-megawatt Lower Snake River Wind Facility.
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2024
PSE breaks ground on the Beaver Creek wind farm in Stillwater County, Montana, and announces its first utility-scale solar facility in Washington state. Since the passage of Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act in 2019, PSE has acquired more than 3,800 MW of clean energy, enough to power about 530,000 homes annually.
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TodayPSE is undergoing the most significant transformation in our history as we strive to meet Washington state’s clean energy laws—some of the most ambitious in the nation—and deliver on our customers’ expectations for energy that is cleaner as well as safe and reliable.