Our history
PSE has a rich history of energy leadership, ground-breaking innovation and dedicated service to our customers and local communities.
Here’s an at-a-glance timeline, with notable energy milestones.
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1873 New Year's EveSeattle Gas Light Company, the earliest PSE predecessor established this same year, introduces the Washington Territory to manufactured gas lighting.
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1879Thomas Edison invents the first long-lasting incandescent light bulb.
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1883Charles Fritts builds the first genuine solar cell.
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1884The electric alternator is invented, an electric generator producing alternating current (AC) better for sending electricity over long distances.
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1886Thanks to Seattle Electric Light Company, a PSE predecessor, the Puget Sound region receives electric service from a central power plant.
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1898PSE predecessor Puget Sound Power and Light builds the region's first large hydroelectric plant at Snoqualmie Falls.
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1932PSE predecessors build the Columbia River's first massive hydropower plant, the Rock Island Dam, now owned and operated by Chelan County Public Utility District.
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Mid 1930sPSE predecessor Puget Sound Power and Light goes to Hollywood, filming energy's role in society in "Looking Forward" — a quaint and pure public relations effort of the day.
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1937The Bonneville Dam begins delivering electric power from the Columbia River.
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1956The Puget Sound region receives its first natural gas service from the Washington Natural Gas Company, a PSE predecessor.
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1994
The first solar dish generator is tied to a utility grid.
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1997PSE adopts its name and current structure upon the merger of Puget Sound Power and Light Company and Washington Energy Company.
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2005With two wind facilities complete (Wild Horse and Hopkins Ridge), PSE is the single largest producer of renewable energy in the Pacific Northwest.
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2012PSE completes its third and largest wind project, the 343-megawatt Lower Snake River Wind Facility.
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2020Our mission today is deep decarbonization and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. We will be coal free by 2025, carbon neutral by 2030, and have 100% clean electricity by 2045. Our local distribution system will have net zero methane emissions by 2022.