A problem at the Pearl Street substation disrupted electricity across Pierce County, Washington, on Friday, October 16, 2026.
The outage affected customers in Tacoma, University Place, Ruston, Gig Harbor, and the Key Peninsula.
Tacoma Public Utilities investigated the equipment issue while Peninsula Light Company reported widespread outages across its service territory.
By 12:19 p. m.
, about 36,067 Peninsula Light customers were without power across Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula, according to an update reported by The News Tribune.
Tacoma Public Utilities had reduced its estimated affected customers from approximately 25,000 to 12,593 by 12:05 p.
m.
The outages affected communities on both sides of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
Peninsula Light's outage map showed widespread disruption across the peninsula, while Tacoma Public Utilities reported outages in Tacoma, including Ruston, and University Place.
Cause and Response
Mike Halliday, a spokesperson for Tacoma Public Utilities, identified a problem at the Pearl Street substation as the source of the disruption.
He told The News Tribune that crews were heading to the facility to investigate and determine the cause.
Halliday said the utility would work to restore electricity as soon as possible after identifying the problem.
Britni Wickens, a spokesperson for Peninsula Light Company, explained that the utility depends on Tacoma Public Utilities' transmission infrastructure to deliver electricity to its customers.
The substation problem therefore affected Peninsula Light's broader service territory.
“When they have an issue on their end, it usually impacts our entire territory and that’s what’s happening now,” Wickens said.
Peninsula Light serves Gig Harbor, the Key Peninsula, and Fox, Raft, and Herron islands.
Wickens initially estimated that thousands of customers across the utility's territory had lost power because its outage map was unavailable.
In a separate update posted on Facebook, Peninsula Light identified the Pearl Street substation issue and said Tacoma Power was working to resolve it.
The utility said restoration could begin after repairs were completed, but it did not provide an estimated completion time.
Peninsula Light had announced widespread outages at approximately 11:30 a. m.
and identified the substation problem by about 11:50 a. m.
, according to reporting by Gig Harbor Now.
Its outage map was not functioning during the initial response, limiting the utility's ability to determine the full extent of the disruption.
The News Tribune reported that the earliest recorded outage affected 2,258 customers and began at approximately 9:30 a.
m.
Other outage clusters appeared around 11:30 a. m.
, according to Tacoma Public Utilities' outage information.
Peninsula Light purchases electricity from the Bonneville Power Administration, but the power travels through Tacoma Public Utilities' transmission lines before reaching its customers.
Gig Harbor Now reported that disruptions to Tacoma Public Utilities' infrastructure can consequently interrupt service throughout the peninsula.
As of the latest updates published Friday, utilities were investigating the substation problem and working toward restoring service.
Neither utility had announced a confirmed restoration time.
