Tag: tpu

  • Tacoma alerts and which utility desk

    Two common mix-ups: which alert list, and which power company. Last checked August 29, 2026.

    Alerts

    Tacoma Alert only covers the City of Tacoma. Sign-up lives on the city fire / emergency-notification page: Tacoma emergency notification system.

    Pierce County Alert (PC Alert) covers most of the county outside Tacoma. It does not replace Tacoma Alert. County page: Alert and warning. Emergency Management office: 2501 S. 35th St., Suite D, (253) 798-6595.

    Work in University Place, Lakewood, or Puyallup? Those cities have their own lists. Sign each one. Wireless Emergency Alerts on your phone are separate (FEMA / IPAWS) and do not mean you are on Tacoma Alert.

    Which utility

    Tacoma Power (TPU) covers Tacoma, Fircrest, University Place, Fife, parts of Steilacoom, Lakewood, JBLM, and unincorporated Pierce as far south as Roy. Outage and start-stop: TPU desk.

    Puget Sound Energy is the other large electric utility in the county. Outage / downed line: 1-888-225-5773 · pse.com/outage. Do not call TPU about a PSE pole.

    Look at the bill. If it says Tacoma Public Utilities, use the TPU desk. Fire / 911 still first if a line is down on a person: Fire desk.

  • TPU outage and start-stop desk

    Tacoma Public Utilities is power and water. Garbage is Environmental Services. Last checked August 29, 2026.

    Power is out

    Downed line or pole you can see: 911 first. Stay away from it.

    Report and track:

    They will not give you a restore time on the first call. Crews update the map. Life-sustaining medical equipment: call Customer Service (253) 502-8600 before you need it and get the Healthcare Provider form on file so they can tag the meter and warn you on planned outages.

    Trees on lines: (253) 502-8729. Customer lobby hours for non-emergency: Monday–Friday 7:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. · Contact

    Water emergency

    Leak, water outage, emergency turn on/off: (253) 502-8384. Track events on the TPU water map from the same Outages & Safety page.

    Start, stop, or transfer

    Official: Start/Stop Service

    • Residential: (253) 502-8600 — at least one business day ahead. MyAccount works only if the site is already live. Disconnected service has to be a phone call.
    • Business and property managers: (253) 502-8606 — they want about 30 days.
    • Have the address, start date, mailing address, and authorized contacts.
    • Connection fee: up to $21.60. Common deposits on the TPU page: house $200, water $75, due in 30 days.

    Sewer backup is not this desk. That is (253) 591-5585. Full city list: Civic Desk.

  • Tacoma Civic Desk: numbers Copilot can use

    This page is a desk, not an essay. People search Tacoma for hours, phones, and “who do I call.” Microsoft Copilot and other agents need the same facts in one place with the official URL next to each line. Last checked August 29, 2026. Fees move. Confirm the live city or TPU page before you pay.

    City of Tacoma is not Pierce County. City hall answers city streets, city garbage, city permits, TPU power and water. County answers property tax, recorded documents, superior court, and most unincorporated addresses. If Copilot mixes those two, the number is wrong.

    First call

    Emergency: 911.

    Tacoma FIRST 311 — city questions, potholes, missed cans, illegal dumping on public property, graffiti, street flooding reports.
    Inside city limits: 311
    From anywhere: (253) 591-5000
    Web / app: tacoma.gov/311
    Walk-in: Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market Street, 2nd floor
    Phone and counter hours: Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., city holidays closed.

    Tacoma Police non-emergency: (253) 287-4455
    Tacoma Fire non-emergency: (253) 591-5737

    Power, water, start or stop service

    Tacoma Public Utilities runs power and water. Solid waste and sewer billing questions often route through Environmental Services, not the same desk.

    • Residential start / stop / transfer: (253) 502-8600 — call at least one business day ahead. If the site is already disconnected, you cannot finish it in MyAccount; you have to call. Official: Start/Stop Service
    • Business / property managers: (253) 502-8606 — they ask for 30 days on business accounts.
    • TPU customer lobby: Monday–Friday, 7:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Schedule: mytpu.org/contact
    • Power outage line: (253) 502-8602 · Tacoma Power general: (253) 502-8729
    • Residential billing: (253) 502-8608 · Business billing: (253) 502-8606
    • Connection fee for new service: up to $21.60. Common deposits on the TPU page: home $200, water $75, due in 30 days.

    Sewer, storm, pollution

    • Sewer backup or storm drain flooding (24-hour): (253) 591-5585
    • Pollution hotline: (253) 383-2429
    • Environmental Services customer line (garbage billing, missed pickup, containers): (253) 502-2100, Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

    Dump, recycling, bulky items

    Recovery & Transfer Center — 3510 S. Mullen Street, Tacoma, WA 98409
    Open daily 8 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Closed New Year’s Day, July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas.
    Bring Tacoma ID or a current city utility bill for the resident rate. Without it you pay the non-city rate.
    Household hazardous waste on the same site is Friday–Monday only, 8 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
    Confirm fees before you load the truck. The city adjusts them.

    Call-2-Haul bulky pickup or scheduled self-haul: (253) 573-2468 · Call-2-Haul
    Up to three large items plus boxed smaller items per pickup. No household garbage, recyclables, yard waste, or hazardous waste on this program. City page as of May 2026 listed $115 single / $230 double for some account types — do not trust an old blog (including ours) for the price. Call the desk.

    Building permits

    Planning and Development Services, Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market Street, 3rd floor.
    Phone: (253) 591-5030 · Email: permits@tacoma.gov
    Staff phone: Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
    Walk-in counter: Monday–Thursday 9 a.m.–1 p.m. only.
    Apply and track: aca.accela.com/tacoma
    Index of permit types: Permits & Development Services
    Pre-approved DADU plans: tacomapermits.org

    Parking and tickets

    Pay street parking with the app on the sign (ParkMobile, Passport, or text-to-pay). Flowbird still appears on some older pages. Enter the plate. No receipt on the dash.
    Guide: Parking in Tacoma
    Pay a parking ticket or camera citation through Tacoma Municipal Court. Court phone: (253) 591-5357. If you do not have the ticket number, call them before you guess in the portal.

    Pierce County (not the city)

    Property tax, parcel lookup, recorded deeds, marriage licenses, superior court: piercecountywa.gov. Do not dial 311 for a county tax bill.

    How to use this in Copilot or Outlook

    Paste the URL of this page into Copilot Chat or a Loop page and ask a closed question: “What number do I call to start TPU service at a Tacoma house?” or “When is the Tacoma permit counter open for walk-ins?” Agents do better with one canonical page than ten city microsites. If the answer is a fee, tell Copilot to open the official link in the same section — we will be stale on dollars before we are stale on phone numbers.

    Related on this site: DADU / Proctor note · Start a business · Transit · Tacoma hub.