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Wind and rain are expected Wednesday as an unseasonably strong weather system moves through the region. With trees and vegetation still fully leafed out, winds may bring branches and trees into power lines, potentially causing numerous outages.

We understand how difficult it is to be without power. We have brought in additional staffing and teams are ready to respond. Crews will remain in the field to assess damage and restore power as long as it is safe. If your power goes out, we'll work around the clock to restore it as quickly and safely as possible.

This storm may catch some people by surprise given the time of year. As we get ready, we encourage our customers to do the same:

  • Charge cell phones and other essential devices.
  • Make sure you have emergency supplies at home and in your vehicle, including flashlights, extra batteries, food, water and blankets.
  • Have a battery-powered radio ready to go.
  • Download the PSE mobile outage app to track and report outages or visit pse.com/outagemap.    
  • Find more preparedness tips at pse.com/storm.

alert 

Safety first:

  • Never touch or go within 35 feet of downed power lines because they might be energized.
  • Call PSE at 1-888-225-5773 or 911 to report problems.
  • If you’re using portable heaters, keep them away from furniture, draperies and other flammable materials.
  • Always use flashlights instead of candles.
  • Be aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning: Never install or use a generator indoors or in enclosed or partially enclosed areas, even those that are ventilated.

Puget Sound Energy transmission line project

Central Pierce-Alderton 115 kV transmission reliability improvement project

Map of Central Pierce-Alderton 115 kV transmission reliability improvement project
Map of Central Pierce-Alderton 115 kV transmission reliability improvement project
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Project overview

From 2011 to 2018, PSE worked to improve electric service reliability for approximately 24,000 customers in Sumner, Bonney Lake and Orting by installing 115kV transmission lines in central Pierce County.

An existing 38-mile transmission line had previously only tied together three substations in the area, lacking the redundancy needed to reliably serve customers and increasing the possibility of outages in the area.

To strengthen the system and improve electric service reliability for our customers, we constructed three new 115 kilovolt transmission lines from points along the existing transmission system to the Alderton substation in Puyallup. The lines will were constructed in two phases:

  • Phase 1: Constructed one 115 kV transmission line along four miles of an existing water main corridor. The line runs from an interconnection point on an existing 115 kV line approximately 1,000 feet west of our existing Rhodes Lake substation in Bonney Lake to the Alderton substation.
  • Phase 2: Constructed two 115 kV transmission lines along 3.2 miles of an existing regional utility corridor. The two parallel lines run from the Alderton substation to an interconnection point on an existing 115 kV line at Myers Rd E near Highway 410.

By constructing the new lines, we segmented the existing system into three smaller, more reliable systems that can back up each other in the event of an outage on one of the lines. This project added redundancy which limits the number of affected customers during an outage and eliminating electric capacity constraints on the existing system – ultimately keeping the lights on for our customers.

This work is related to our Pierce County 230 kV project, which constructed approximately eight miles of new 230 kV transmission line from the White River substation in Bonney Lake to the Alderton substation in Puyallup. The Pierce 230 kV project was completed in late 2017. These projects work together to strengthen the overall electric grid and increase electric reliability for our customers in Sumner, Bonney Lake, Orting and central Pierce County.

Contact us

We welcome your questions and comments! Please contact:

1-888-404-8773
MajorProjects@pse.com

Learn more