Mercer Island Electric Upgrade Project

Fire Weather Forecasted

Due to current weather forecasts a Red Flag Warning has been issued in the Cascade Foothills and Eastern King County. As part of PSE’s wildfire safe operations, we are turning on system settings that are more sensitive to potential hazards. These settings will stay in place as long as high wildfire risk conditions are present. 

Enhanced Powerline Settings are designed to help keep you safe, but they may result in unplanned power outages. This is not a Public Safety Power Shutoff, where we proactively turn off power in advance of severe weather. 

For more information or to report a power outage, visit PSE’s Outage map.

Mercer Island electric upgrades

Project overview

The electric infrastructure that serves Mercer Island is aging and needs to be replaced to create a more reliable and resilient power grid.

PSE plans to replace the underwater electric cables that serve Mercer Island, increase the cables’ capacity, and make upgrades to the four cable stations located at each end of the cables (see project area to the right). By investing in these improvements, PSE will increase electric service reliability and meet Mercer Island’s future energy needs, ensuring safe, reliable power for decades to come.

PSE is currently in the planning phase, studying existing conditions, identifying routing needs and initiating engineering. We will keep the community informed of our progress. As this work is in its early stages, you may notice PSE staff and contractors in the project area conducting fieldwork, such as soil testing or surveying existing infrastructure.

PSE is currently working on a project design to meet the island’s power needs and will keep the community updated as the design progresses. As this work is in its early stages, you may notice PSE staff and contractors in the area conducting fieldwork, such as soil testing or surveying existing infrastructure.