How to get a Seattle City Light bill

One-time payment without an account

The one-time option works for City Light and Seattle Public Utilities bills alike, even if you get paper bills. It is the quickest route for a tenant, a property manager or anyone paying on someone else's behalf.

Online account, e-billing and autopay

Set up or log in to your online account to sign up for e-billing or automatic payments. Payments can be made with Visa, Mastercard or American Express, or automatically from a bank account. The same profile handles a short-term payment plan: open Payment Plans to get up to 60 days to repay a past-due balance, with 25% down. Autopay changes how the bill is paid, not whether it is issued. The e-bill remains the document to keep.

Phone, mail and payment centers

• Automated phone: (877) 398-3531, 24 hours, for credit or debit cards.
• Agent first: (206) 684-3000, then a transfer to a second agent who takes the payment.
• Mail: a check payable to "City of Seattle" with your account number, to City of Seattle, PO Box 35178, Seattle, WA 98124-5178.
• In person: check or credit card at one of nine City Light payment centers.

When the bill arrives

Most residential customers get a bill every two months, covering two months of usage at the rate for their area and season. A new account's first bill includes a $16 new service charge. If no bill has come within three months of opening an account, call (206) 684-3000 to avoid late fees. City Light's billing pages don't describe an archive of past bills. Keep each e-bill or paper bill as it comes.

Bimonthly City Light bills, kept in order

Six bills a year is easy to lose track of, especially when a combined utilities budget needs both City Light and SPU charges. Connect your Utility Services account and our AI agent signs in and saves each e-bill through bill fetching. E-billing emails are filed by email receipt capture, and every bill can go into an expense report.