Unlike many areas of the country served exclusively by investor-owned utilities (IOUs) with sprawling service territories, the Northwest’s electric utility landscape is a patchwork of many utilities of varying types. In addition to major IOUs, the region has a mix of public utility districts, municipal utilities, Tribal utilities¹, and electric cooperatives (Figure 1).

This complexity can make it difficult to understand the electric utility landscape in each state. In this blog, accompanied by a visualization on the Northwest Clean Energy Atlas, we present basic information about the types of utilities operating in the Northwest and the number of customers, annual sales, and average price of electricity for each utility.

Non-IOUs are known as consumer-owned utilities (COUs). This includes public power utilities that are owned/operated by government, such as municipal utilities or county-level Public Utility Districts (PUDs).

COUs also include electric cooperatives, which are managed by and for member-owners of the utility. Electric cooperatives proliferated in the Northwest with the Rural Electrification Administration, which aimed to bring power to rural areas starting in 1936 and complemented the electrification progress already underway from hydropower development.

Few COUs in the Northwest own and operate their own electricity generation; instead, many purchase power from the Bonneville Power Administration, which sells the power from the Columbia River’s federal hydropower system. A few public utilities have their own hydropower systems, and some purchase power from generators other than Bonneville.

Each type of utility operates with a different business model. IOUs are for-profit entities that have shareholders for whom they generate a profit. IOUs are regulated by a utility commission in each state that approves utility spending and determines the rate of return allowed on the utility’s capital investments, which is how the utility generates a profit.

In contrast, COUs do not have shareholders who invest in exchange for profit. COUs report to a mix of city councils, county councils, state agencies, or the customers themselves, and their revenues are cycled back into operations.

The data and analysis shared in this blog and the accompanying visualization come from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), a federal agency. The EIA collects a variety of data from utilities. We have focused on information collected through Forms 861 and 861S reporting data from 2023. The two forms are similar, but 861 is more detailed and required for larger utilities while 861S is shorter and accepted for smaller utilities.

The forms include data on customer numbers, sales in megawatt-hours (MWh), and revenue. Below, we have summarized highlights from the data for each state.

Idaho

Idaho Power Company is an IOU that provides the majority of Idaho’s power – 58% of load in the state. The next largest utilities are PacifiCorp (IOU) and Avista (IOU), each of which serve 14% of the state’s load. Together, the three deliver nearly 86% of Idaho’s electricity. The remaining load in the state is served by 17 co-ops and 11 municipal utilities.

Across all customer types (commercial, industrial, residential) and utilities, the average price of electricity is $0.09/kWh in the Gem State. Looking specifically at residential customers, the average price is around $0.11/kWh.² Total sales revenue for electricity across all utilities was $2.3 billion in 2023.

Montana

In Montana, the top three utilities by kWh sales are North Western Energy (IOU), which services 60% of load in the state, Flathead Electric Cooperative, and Montana-Dakota Utilities (IOU). Montana has a significant presence of cooperative utilities, with 29 cooperatives in the state serving 30% of load. Montana also has one Tribal utility, Mission Valley Power, which is under federal ownership but operated and maintained by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Across all utilities and customer types, the average cost for electricity in the Treasure State is $0.10/kWh. The cost for residential customers is estimated to be $0.13/kWh. Across all utilities, revenue was $1.5 billion in 2023.

Oregon

Oregon’s top three utilities by kWh sales are Portland General Electric (IOU), which serves 38% of load in the state, PacifiCorp (IOU),which serves 25% of load, and Umatilla Electric Cooperative which serves 12% of load. By number of customers, Eugene Water & Electric Board (municipal) would be third rather than Umatilla.

In addition to the three IOUs in Oregon, there are 19 cooperatives, one Tribal utility, 6 PUDs, and 12 municipal utilities in the Beaver State. These 38 utilities—which together make up the consumer-owned utilities—serve just over 1/3 of load in the state at 37%.

Across all customer types and utilities, the average price of electricity is $0.10/kWh. Specifically for residential customers, the average price is $0.13/kWh. Total sales revenue was $5.7 billion in 2023.

Washington

Relative to the other Northwest states, Washington’s electric needs are served more heavily by COUs. In total, Washington’s three IOUs—Puget Sound Energy, Avista, and PacifiCorp— make up only 37% of the state’s load.

The state’s 18 cooperatives and one Tribal utility make up 5% of load, 17 municipal utilities make up 18%, and 24 PUDs make up 38%. One additional Tribal utility – Kalispel Tribal Utilities – is not included in EIA data.

Puget Sound Energy (IOU) is the biggest electric utility in the state by kWh sales, serving 26% of load. Seattle City Light (municipal) serves 10% of load, followed by Snohomish PUD, which serves 8%.

Across all customer types and utilities, the average price for electricity is $0.09/kWh in the Evergreen State. For residential customers, the average price is $0.11/kWh. As the Northwest’s most populous state, Washington also sees the most electricity sold. Total electricity sales across all utilities were $8.4 billion in 2023.

Explore the Data

CETI’s new visualization on our Northwest Clean Energy Atlas looks at the electric utilities that operate across Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Using the sales and revenue data from EIA, we calculated the average price of electricity from each utility. For larger utilities who fill out the full Form 861, we calculated price by customer type. For smaller utilities who fill out Form 861S, we calculated an overall average for all customers.

We invite you to further explore the EIA utilities data in the new visualization. Note that the service territories in the map rely on EIA data and contain some known errors. These include, but are not limited to:

• Benton Rural Electric Association: The service territory shown is different from what is presented on the utility’s website.
• Tacoma Power: The service territory shown is different from what is on utility’s website (e.g., appears to extend to Vashon Island and Lewis County, which does not match the utility’s map).
• City of Milton Electric Division: The service territory shown is different from what is on the utility’s website. Because the service territory shown is quite large and covers other service territories, we have excluded it from the map.
• Ohop Mutual Light Company and Alder Mutual Light Company: In 2022, Alder merged into Ohop. Ohop now provides service to former Alder territory, but it is unclear if the map shows the acquired Alder territory.
• Puget Sound Energy: The service territory shows some parts of their territory that only receive gas service.
• There are four Tribal electric utilities in the Northwest, which are represented inconsistently in the data sources for this viz. Furthermore, the EIA data on Form 861 categorizes Yakama Power and Umpqua Indian Utility Cooperative as cooperatives, and Mission Valley Power as federal. We have created a “Tribal” category to group these utilities operated by Tribes:
  • Yakama Power (WA): Included in the bar chart (Form EIA-861 data) but not on the map.
  • Umpqua Indian Utility Cooperative (OR): Included in the bar chart but not on the map.
  • Mission Valley Power (MT): Included in both the bar chart and map, listed as “USBIA-Mission Valley Power.”
  • Kalispel Tribal Utilities (WA): Not included on either the map or bar chart.
  • Black Hills Power is based in South Dakota but serves 40 customers in Montana. This utility is represented in the bar chart (Form EIA-861 data) but not the map.
• Bonneville Power Administration (BPA): BPA is the federal agency that sells the power generated by the federal hydropower system, has several direct customers in addition to providing electricity to retail utilities. BPA has one commercial customer in Oregon, and seven commercial and three industrial customers in Washington. Because the BPA service territory is quite large and covers other service territories, we have excluded it from the map.  

If you have specific questions about the data or methodology, you can contact us at info@cleanenergytransition.org.

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1. Figure 1 shows three Tribal utilities (one each in Montana, Washington, and Oregon). There is another Tribal utility in Washington, Kalispel Tribal Utilities, which was formed in December 2017 and is not included in the EIA data.

2. This only includes data from utilities that fill out the long form Form EIA-861. Smaller utilities, which fill out Form EIA-861S, do not submit specific data for each customer sector.