Who Provides Utilities in Washington?

Washington is public-power country: Seattle and Tacoma own their electric utilities outright, Everett and Vancouver run on county PUDs, and PSE and the other investor-owned utilities fill in around them. There's no plan-shopping — the territory decides — and hydro keeps the whole arrangement among the cheapest in the country. Gas, where homes have it at all, is a separate company even in Seattle. Your address picks your lineup.

Free lookup · electric, gas, water & sewer for any Washington address

The Washington electric map — and why it's blurry

Where each electric provider led our address-level sampling. Hover a city for its provider; click through for the full guide. Tap a legend entry to trace one provider across the state.

PSE 6 City-run & local utilities 6
Each dot is a Washington city we sampled, shaded by the electric provider that led our results there. The colors bleed on purpose: real utility territories don't follow clean lines, and two homes on the same street can land on different sides of one. Your address is the only reliable answerlook yours up.

The most common providers across 12 Washington cities

From our address-level sampling of 12 Washington cities (2026-07-20). "Most common in" counts the cities where that provider was the leading answer.

UtilityProviderMost common in
⚡ Electricity PSE Bellevue, Kent, Renton, Federal Way, Bellingham, Kirkland
Seattle City Light Seattle
Avista Spokane
🔥 Natural gas PSE Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue, Kent, Everett, Renton, Federal Way, Kirkland
Cascade Natural Gas Yakima, Bellingham
Avista Spokane
💧 Water Seattle Public Utilities Seattle
Spokane City of Spokane
Tacoma Public Utilities - WA Tacoma

Washington's quiet advantage: the public grid

More than half of Washington's electricity flows through utilities the public owns — city utilities like Seattle City Light and Tacoma Power, and public utility districts like Snohomish County PUD around Everett and Clark Public Utilities in Vancouver. Cross into Bellevue or south King County and you're in Puget Sound Energy territory; Spokane belongs to Avista, Yakima on its own investor-owned utility. None of it is chosen — the territory holds, and Columbia River hydro keeps the rates low across all of it.

The catch that surprises movers: the electric utility usually isn't the gas utility, even when the city owns the power. Seattle City Light doesn't touch gas — that's PSE — and plenty of Washington homes are all-electric anyway, so check the appliances before assuming a second account. Water and sewer are city departments nearly everywhere, which makes the average Washington move a two-or-three-account affair, not five.

Washington utility providers by city

City-by-city breakdowns of who provides electricity, gas, water and sewer:

Washington utility questions, answered

Who is my electric company in Washington?

It depends on which public-or-private territory holds your address: Seattle City Light and Tacoma Power in their cities, county PUDs around Everett and Vancouver, Puget Sound Energy on the Eastside and much of western Washington, Avista in Spokane, an investor-owned utility in Yakima. No choosing between them — the address decides, and the lookup reads the address.

Can I choose my electricity provider in Washington?

No — Washington is a regulated, fixed-territory state, and much of it is public power, where the utility answers to ratepayers or a city rather than shareholders. The upside is simplicity and some of the lowest rates in the country; the whole decision is confirming who holds your address.

Does Seattle City Light handle natural gas too?

No — City Light is electricity only. Gas in Seattle (and much of western Washington) comes from Puget Sound Energy as a separate account, and many Washington homes skip gas entirely. Check what your home actually runs on before adding a second utility to the list.

How do I find all the utility providers for a Washington address?

Use the address lookup on this page. It checks your exact address against utility territory data and returns your electric, gas, water and sewer providers with contact details — more reliable than any city-level list, including this one.

Public or private, the territory decides

Enter your Washington address and get the exact electric, gas, water and sewer lineup for your home.

Find my providers

Provider data comes from our address-level utility lookup engine, aggregated from geographically spread sample addresses in each Washington city. Data refreshed 2026-07-20. Territories vary address by address — always confirm yours with the lookup. Read how we verify provider data.