Tacoma Power area · problem guide
Breaker keeps tripping in Tacoma
A breaker that trips once on a cold morning with three space heaters running is doing its job. A breaker that trips with almost nothing plugged in is telling you something is wrong.
Try this once
- Unplug everything on that circuit: heaters, kettles, hair dryers, shop tools.
- Flip the breaker fully off, then on.
- Plug things back in one at a time. If one device trips it every time, the device is the likely problem.
Stop resetting and call when
- It trips right away with nothing plugged in.
- The breaker or panel cover feels warm, or you smell hot plastic.
- A GFCI outlet in a bathroom, kitchen, garage or outdoor spot will not reset, or trips whenever it rains.
- The trip started after water got in: a roof leak, a flooded basement, or a wet exterior outlet.
Keep pushing a breaker that wants to stay off and you can overheat the wire behind the wall. If the whole street went dark at the same moment, it is a Tacoma Power issue instead: 253-502-8602.
Check the contractor license on WA L&I Verify before they open the panel.
Listed shops by city
Public phones from each business’s Google profile or website. We have not checked their work. Ask about after-hours service when you call.
Tacoma
- Pokorski Electric — (888) 267-4161 · Listing
- Dependable Electric LLC — (253) 222-0696 · Listing
- LightningX Electrical — (253) 666-3066 · Listing
Lakewood
- Skipper & Son's Electric LLC — (253) 317-5865 · Listing
- Breaker Brothers Electric LLC — (253) 576-6340 · Listing
- Greenlife Electric LLC — (253) 370-8883 · Listing
Puyallup
- Nexen Electrical Contractors — (253) 386-8736 · Listing
- Evergreen State Electric, Inc. — (253) 770-0656 · Listing
- Champ's Electric — (253) 693-2827 · Listing
University Place
Federal Way
Other problems
Tacoma Power customers: what to do in order
- 1. Check whether it is the grid: Look at Tacoma Power’s outage map or call 253-502-8602. Lines get busy in storms, so call once. (Tacoma Public Utilities — Outages & Safety)
- 2. Tell them what they need: Your name, the affected address, a callback number, when it started, and anything you can see: a tree in a line, a wire down, a loud pop, a broken pole.
Checked against the official pages linked above on 2026-10-08. Numbers change, so confirm on the utility’s site.