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March Windstorm Event

Thank you for your patience while we work around the clock to restore power in the community. Crews are out in full force to make repairs to our electric system. We have brought in additional crews to help us assess damage and restore power as quickly and safely as possible.

Intense snowfall today has caused new outages and challenging restoration conditions, including road closures and access issues, in many parts of our service area. Our crews are working through these challenges and will remain at work until every customer is restored. Persistent snowfall is accumulating on trees, leading to repeated branch and tree failures that are blocking established access routes and damaging recently repaired spans of lines. Helicopter patrols remain unavailable because of weather, forcing reliance on foot access where conditions are worsening.

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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.

Report and track power outages online

Energy Burden Analysis

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) conducts a comprehensive Energy Burden Analysis (EBA) to identify and support customers who struggle with high energy costs relative to their income. This analysis serves as the foundation for understanding customer needs and designing targeted and improved outreach and assistance programs for those who need help most.

The EBA allows PSE to estimate the number of low-income customers, assess their energy burdens, and determine energy assistance needs across our service territory. By analyzing characteristics of energy-burdened customers, we develop targeted outreach strategies and tactics and more effective assistance programs that address energy affordability and energy equity challenges.

How is Low-Income Defined?

The Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) (RCW 19.405.120) defines "low-income" as the higher of either 80% area median income or 200% federal poverty level, adjusted for household size.

What is Energy Burden?

Energy burden measures the percentage of a household's annual income spent on energy costs, including electricity, natural gas, and other heating fuels like propane, heating oil, and wood. When households spend more than 6% of their annual income on energy expenses, they are considered "energy-burdened" or with “high energy burden.” The above 6% energy burden threshold comes from Commerce's criteria for identifying customers needing assistance.

PSE’s Energy Burden Analysis:

Contact

Questions? Contact PSE at: EnergyBurdenAnalysis@pse.com