Thousands in East Pierce lost power after raccoon gets into transmission line
Over 6,000 customers in East Pierce County lost power after a raccoon got into a transmission line connecting to a substation Tuesday morning.
Customers across Bonney Lake, Sumner and Puyallup were affected. The transmission line was connected to a substation that serves those areas, Gerald Tracy, spokesperson for Puget Sound Energy, told The News Tribune. He said the raccoon is still alive.
About 4,153 people did not have power at 8 a.m. in Sumner and Alderton. As of 8:11 a.m., 1,705 customers did not have power in Alderton and power was restored in Sumner.
Tracy anticipates power will be completely restored by 9 a.m.
The City of Sumner posted on X that drivers should treat dark intersections as a 4-way stop.
Cascade Christian Schools Pioneer Campus and McAlder Campus will have a 2-hour delay due to the outages.
This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 8:16 AM.
