Power outage affected over 50K people across Pierce County. Here’s what caused it
Widespread power outages affected thousands of people across Pierce County on Wednesday, Nov. 15.
Tacoma Public Utility’s outage map showed almost 24,000 people without power. Areas without power include Tacoma, Ruston, University Place and part of Fircrest.
People lost power right before 11 a.m., according to the reported outages.
In a phone interview around 12:30 p.m., Tacoma Public Utility told The News Tribune it was investigating what caused the outage.
Around 2 p.m., TPU posted on X, explaining what happened.
“Tacoma Power crews were performing required testing of our transmission system protecting the line between Cushman Power Plants and NE Tacoma,” the utility wrote. “The testing resulted in a unexpected operation, causing equipment outside of the scope of the test to de-energize portions of our network.”
Tacoma Public Utilities said on X, it is investigating to better understand “the root cause” of the outage.
Power on the Tacoma side of the Narrows Bridge was reported to be fully restored about lunchtime, the utility said.
Residents west of the Narrows Bridge also were without power.
The Peninsula Light Co. outage map showed over 34,000 people were without power across its network.
Reported outages show they lost power around 11 a.m., too.
Shortly after, Peninsula Light Co. tweeted, “PenLight is experiencing a system wide transmission outage.”
Areas affected include those Gig Harbor, Fox Island, Purdy, Vaughn, Home, Lakebay, and Longbranch.
Power west of the Narrows bridge was restored about 2 p.m.
Peninsula School District did not send students home, Kris Hagel, a spokesperson for PSD told The News Tribune.
When Hagel spoke with The News Tribune just after noon, he said three schools had power back.
He also said after a conversation between Pen Light and PSD, they expected to have power fully restored within the next hour.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department reminded local businesses on X that “if you operate a food establishment and the power goes out, you must close. You can reopen as soon as power is restored.”
This story was originally published November 15, 2023 at 11:46 AM.
