Washington · Municipal · serves 38 ZIP codes
City of Tacoma - (WA) rate plans
6 residential plans are currently open to new customers that we can price side by side. None of them price by hour, so shifting when you use power won’t change your bill here.
What does City of Tacoma cost at a normal month’s usage?
A household using 1,000 kWh a month pays about $903 a year on the cheapest of the 13 plans we can price here — Residential Service - Schedule A-2 — and $1,490 on the priciest. Same house, same wires.
| A month of | Cheapest, a year | On which plan | Priciest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 kWh | $562 | Residential Service - Schedule A-2 | $927 |
| 1,000 kWh | $903 | Residential Service - Schedule A-2 | $1,490 |
| 2,000 kWh | $1,585 | Residential Service - Schedule A-2 | $2,615 |
The same plan is cheapest at every level of use here, so the answer does not turn on how much you use. Estimates from the filed tariff, priced hour by hour on a household with central air — not a quote.
How much does the plan you pick actually matter here?
Run the same three-bedroom house with central air through every plan City of Tacoma - (WA) files, and the bill lands anywhere between $1,166 and $1,251 a year. That $85 spread is not a difference in electricity — it is the same kilowatt-hours, from the same wires, priced under different rules. Nobody sends you a letter when you are on the wrong side of it.
None of these 6 plans price by the hour, so when you use electricity here makes no difference to what you pay — only how much. That narrows your options to two levers: use less, or pick the plan whose fixed charge and tier structure suit your size of household.
Watch the fixed charges too. Across these plans they run from $340 to $364 a year before a single kilowatt-hour is counted. For a small household that difference alone can outweigh the per-kWh price, which is why comparing cents per kilowatt-hour on its own quietly misleads.
How City of Tacoma compares across Washington
Run the same three-bedroom house with central air through its default plan at each of the 6 Washington utilities we cover, and City of Tacoma comes in 3rd cheapest at about $1,166 a year; the state median is $1,180. The range runs from $1,020 at PUD No 1 of Cowlitz County to $2,083 at Puget Sound Energy, and since the utility is set by the address, the part of that gap you can act on is the plan, not the company.
The other two households tell the same story in different sizes: a small apartment pays about $765 here against a state median of $791, and the same house with an electric car charging overnight about $1,485 against $1,508. Effective rate, fixed charge included, is 12.3¢ per kilowatt-hour for the family home.
Inside City of Tacoma itself, the gap between its cheapest and dearest plan for that house is $85 a year — less than the $1,063 between Washington's cheapest and dearest utilities. Here the address decides most of the bill; the plan decides the rest.
Every Washington utility we cover, priced for the same three households →
Which plan would cost you least?
No bill upload, no sign-up. Tell us roughly what a month costs you and what runs on electricity — we price every plan against the same household and show you the gap.
That adds up to 15,342 kWh a year. Compare it to the total on your bill and adjust until it’s close.
Same usage, different plan
$710a year
That is the gap between the cheapest plan you could be on — Residential Service - Schedule A-2 — and the priciest. Not by using less power. By being billed differently for the same power.
| Plan | Per year | Vs best |
|---|---|---|
| Residential Service - Schedule A-2One rate, every hour of the year. | $1,092 | — |
| RS - Schedule A-1 - City of Fife - collectively metered apartmentsOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,618 | +$526 |
| RS - Schedule A-1 - City of Fircrest - collectively metered apartmentsOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,618 | +$526 |
| RS - Schedule A-1 - City of Lakewood - collectively metered apartmentsOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,618 | +$526 |
| RS - Schedule A-1 - City of Steilacoom - collectively metered apartmentsOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,618 | +$526 |
| RS - Schedule A-1 - Collectively Metered ApartmentsOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,618 | +$526 |
| Residential Service - Schedule A-1One rate, every hour of the year. | $1,679 | +$588 |
| Residential Service - Schedule A-1 - City of FifeOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,679 | +$588 |
| RS - Schedule A-1 - City of FircrestOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,679 | +$588 |
| RS - Schedule A-1 - City of LakewoodOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,679 | +$588 |
| RS - Schedule A-1 - City of SteilacoomOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,679 | +$588 |
| RS - Schedule A-1 - City of University Place - collectively metered apartmentsOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,735 | +$643 |
| RS - Schedule A-1 - City of University PlaceOne rate, every hour of the year. | $1,802 | +$710 |
An estimate, not a quote. Supply charges move month to month, and your real usage pattern is not exactly this one. What it does show reliably is the gap between plans — both are priced off the same assumptions.
Making sense of the bill
- How to read your electric bill
Four kinds of charge, only two of which you can do anything about.
- Fixed charges on your electric bill: what they are and why they matter
The line that makes cents-per-kilowatt-hour comparisons quietly wrong.
- How to compare electricity plans without getting it wrong
Six things that break a comparison, and the order to check them in.
Every plan, in detail
Hour-by-hour schedules, tier thresholds, and the tariff each one comes from.
- Residential Service - Schedule A-1flat
One rate, every hour of the year.
8.7¢ - Residential Service - Schedule A-1 - City of Fifeflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
8.7¢ - Residential Service - Schedule A-2flat
One rate, every hour of the year.
5.7¢ - RS - Schedule A-1 - City of Fife - collectively metered apartmentsflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
8.7¢ - RS - Schedule A-1 - City of Fircrestflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
8.7¢ - RS - Schedule A-1 - City of Fircrest - collectively metered apartmentsflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
8.7¢ - RS - Schedule A-1 - City of Lakewoodflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
8.7¢ - RS - Schedule A-1 - City of Lakewood - collectively metered apartmentsflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
8.7¢ - RS - Schedule A-1 - City of Steilacoomflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
8.7¢ - RS - Schedule A-1 - City of Steilacoom - collectively metered apartmentsflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
8.7¢ - RS - Schedule A-1 - City of University Placeflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
9.4¢ - RS - Schedule A-1 - City of University Place - collectively metered apartmentsflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
9.4¢ - RS - Schedule A-1 - Collectively Metered Apartmentsflat
One rate, every hour of the year.
8.7¢