More than 17,000 customers experienced a widespread tacoma power outage Wednesday afternoon affecting sections of the city and surrounding areas. The disruption began early in the afternoon.
According to information from Tacoma Public Utilities, approximately 10,542 customers were without service in the Midland and Summit areas. Another roughly 7,400 customers were affected near Lakewood.
The utility company indicated the cause of the outage was a car striking a utility pole. This impact affected a distribution line serving the Lakeview area.
TPU crews were dispatched to assess the damage and begin the process of restoring power. Efforts were underway to address the affected lines and equipment.
Utility officials communicated that power restoration for some areas was estimated to take about an hour from their updates. Customers were advised to monitor official channels for specific restoration timelines for their location. Customers can check the situation on the utility's outage map.
The outage also disrupted operations for some schools north of state Route 512. Those needing to contact affected schools were directed to call 253-281-0516.
Tacoma Public Utilities acknowledged the situation publicly. According to an X post from the utility, they were aware of the extensive outage.
Restoration work continued into the evening hours Wednesday.