What Cowlitz PUD does

Cowlitz County Public Utility District (Cowlitz PUD) is a Washington State public utility district organized under RCW 24.03 that distributes electricity to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across Cowlitz County, Washington, with its main office at 961 12th Avenue in Longview. Founded in 1936 and governed by an elected Board of Commissioners, the utility holds an exclusive franchise over its service territory and sets rates through its Board rather than through competitive markets.

The utility's core technology stack comprises power distribution infrastructure, the owned Swift No. 2 Hydroelectric Project on the Lewis River, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) with repeater connectivity, and the SmartHub web and mobile customer portal (available on iOS and Android). Operational capabilities include a Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) drone program for infrastructure inspection and outage assessment, a vegetation management program, and a wildfire mitigation program. Wholesale power is sourced over 90% from the Bonneville Power Administration (primarily Columbia River hydroelectric and Columbia Generating System nuclear output), supplemented by Grant PUD mid-Columbia hydro and Cowlitz PUD's own Swift No. 2 generation, yielding a portfolio that is already 62.5% hydroelectric.

Cowlitz PUD operates a non-profit, publicly owned business model: revenue is generated through monthly recurring electric service charges across nine rate schedules (residential, small and general commercial, large commercial/industrial at primary and transmission voltage, public and private street lighting, and direct access), with no shareholder return requirement. Customer segments are horizontally distributed across households, small/mid-market businesses, and large industrial users. Ancillary revenue and customer value is delivered through energy efficiency programs (residential rebates, commercial rebates, industrial programs), free home energy audits, Community Solar, Net Metering, EV programs, the Warm Neighbor utility assistance program, and Clean Buildings Act compliance support, all of which align with mandated CETA targets of GHG neutrality by 2030 and 100% clean renewable energy by 2045.

Name

Cowlitz PUD

Legal name

Public Utility District No. 1 of Cowlitz County

Website

https://cowlitzpud.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1936

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Cowlitz PUD is a Washington State public utility district that distributes electricity exclusively to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Cowlitz County via BPA-sourced hydro power, the Swift No. 2 hydroelectric project, and AMI-enabled SmartHub services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Electric Utility Distribution

NAICS

Electric Power Distribution (221122), Utilities (221)

SIC

Electric Services (4911)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Power Districts & State/Provincial Utilities (EUADABAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Electric Distribution System Owners (Wires-Only Companies) (EUADABAI), Retail Electric Providers / Competitive Distribution Utilities (where applicable) (EUADABAE)

Keywords

• Electric utility services
• Power distribution
• Residential electricity
• Commercial electricity
• Energy efficiency programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Longview

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Electric Utility Service: Cowlitz PUD generates revenue through the sale of electricity to residential, commercial, and industrial customers within Cowlitz County, Washington. Rates are set by the elected Board of Commissioners and include various rate schedules for different customer classes. Revenue is derived from ongoing electricity consumption charges.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cowlitz PUD (Public Utility District No. 1 of Cowlitz County) distributes and sells electricity to residential, commercial, and industrial customers within its exclusive service territory in Cowlitz County, Washington. The utility provides supplemental energy efficiency programs, renewable energy options, customer assistance, and grid maintenance services. Its operations are regulated by an elected Board of Commissioners and supported by wholesale power supplied primarily through the Bonneville Power Administration.

Product overview

Cowlitz PUD is a public utility district providing electricity services to Cowlitz County, Washington. Its primary customer-facing product is SmartHub, a web and mobile portal for account management, bill payment, usage monitoring, and outage reporting. The utility supplements this with energy efficiency programs for residential, commercial, and industrial customers including home energy audits, commercial rebates, and Clean Buildings Act compliance assistance. Additional services include community solar, electric vehicle programs, net metering, and the Warm Neighbor assistance program. The organization also operates drone (UAS) programs for infrastructure inspection and vegetation management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SmartHub: Online customer portal and mobile application for managing utility accounts, viewing and paying bills, monitoring energy usage, and reporting service issues.

Products and services

• Residential Electricity Service

Quantifiable outcome

• 62.5% of power from hydroelectric sources
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBPA is the primary wholesale power supplier for Cowlitz PUD, providing over 90% of the utility's electricity. Power primarily comes from Columbia River system hydroelectric projects. BPA also provides the output from the Columbia Generating System (nuclear plant) near Richland, WA. This is a foundational partnership essential to Cowlitz PUD's power supply.
• Grant PUDcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrant PUD supplies power from mid-Columbia River hydro projects to Cowlitz PUD as part of the utility's diversified power supply portfolio.
• NOVA NetworksminorOthersNOVA Networks is an authorized financial service used by Cowlitz PUD to process credit card payment transactions. Customer credit card information is shared with NOVA Networks for payment processing only.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Avista Utilities: Investor-owned electric and natural gas utility serving parts of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. Regional peer with overlapping clean-energy policy exposure in the inland Pacific Northwest and similar CETA-related compliance dynamics in its Washington service area.
• Portland General Electric: Investor-owned electric utility serving Oregon customers across the Columbia River from Cowlitz County. Comparable Pacific Northwest utility facing similar decarbonization mandates but operating as a regulated IOU with a different ownership and rate-base model.

Broad incumbents

• Pacific Power: Investor-owned utility operating in Washington, Oregon, and California under PacifiCorp. Operates adjacent to Cowlitz PUD's territory in southwest Washington with similar CETA and clean-energy compliance pressures but an IOU capital structure.
• Puget Sound Energy: Largest investor-owned electric and natural gas utility in Washington State. Overlaps with Cowlitz PUD's service geography in parts of western Washington and competes for policy and customer mindshare, though operates under a different regulatory framework.

Direct peers

• Tacoma Public Utilities: Municipal utility owned by the City of Tacoma providing electric, water, and rail services. Comparable Pacific Northwest publicly owned electric utility with generation and distribution assets and similar regulatory regime.
• Clark Public Utilities: Customer-owned public utility district serving Clark County, Washington, immediately adjacent to Cowlitz County. Closest direct peer in terms of service-territory PUD structure, customer mix, and reliance on BPA wholesale power.
• Snohomish County PUD: Washington State public utility district providing electric distribution and generation to Snohomish County. Comparable PUD governance model and clean-energy transition mandates under CETA, though operating at materially larger scale.
• Grant PUD: Washington State public utility district and major Columbia River hydroelectric generator that is already a power-supply partner to Cowlitz PUD. Closest peer on the generation side and a critical supply-chain counterparty.
• Seattle City Light: Municipal electric utility of the City of Seattle with significant hydroelectric generation. Comparable publicly owned utility in Washington with similar clean-energy policy exposure and AMI/customer-portal modernization programs.
• Benton PUD: Washington State public utility district serving Benton County. Comparable PUD operating model with similar BPA dependence and customer classes including large industrial and irrigation loads.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cowlitzpud
• Facebookfacebook.com/CowlitzPUD

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cowlitz PUD