Showing posts with label seattle city light. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seattle city light. Show all posts

Christmas Day wind storm and power outages

Monday, December 26, 2011

Two downed lines on 15th NE
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Area residents preparing for Christmas Day were startled when a mild wind storm with gusty winds was followed by flickering lights and a power outage just before noon on December 25, 2011.

In a wind storm that moved from south to north, bringing down branches and trees, over 17,000 Seattle City Light customers in King County lost power. Those in south King county had shorter outages, from one to five hours, but Shoreline and Lake Forest Park residents were in for a longer siege.

In a scene more reminiscent of past Thanksgiving days, Christmas dinner plans were revised, scrapped, postponed, and transferred to homes with power. Church services were postponed.  Morning services had some dramatic moments. One minister had just proclaimed from the pulpit that he was going to do something spectacular - when the power went out.  

At the worst of the outages, 18,000 customers were without power. By 4 pm, that number was down to 4,000, most in Shoreline.

Power outage in the Ridgecrest Neighborhood Christmas Day December 25th about 11:45am.
Taping off the area to keep pedestrians from harm
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Police block the lane so crews can work.
15th NE between NE 163rd and 165th.
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

In a major line on 15th NE by Hamlin Park, damaged by tree limbs, police and fire fighters had to divert traffic while lines were restored. The work was done by about 6 pm, about an hour after the surrounding area had power restored.

Tree fall. Photo by Carl Dinse.

A tree came down on this home in north Shoreline.  Most of the damage is in the rear.  Owners were not home at the time, so no one was hurt.

By 7pm the total number of county outages was 4,000, with most still in Shoreline.

9:30pm City Light map of most power outages

On this map, captured at 9:30pm, the major power outages are shown in red, but there were four other places with small outages:
  • 15th NW south of Richmond Beach Road - 1am 12-26
  • Firlands Way at N 196th - 2am 12-26
  • About 28th NE and NE 179th Ct - 1am 12-26
  • Beach Drive NE at about NE 159th



11:15pm map of City Light power outages.

By 11:15pm, there are 13 separate outages affecting 502 customers, most all in the Meridian Park neighborhood.

For future power outages, call or check online:






Read more...

97 homes in LFP still without power

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Power to red areas has been out since early Sunday morning and will not be restored until 1am Monday

As of 8:30 pm on Sunday, 97 City Light customers in Lake Forest Park on five separate lines were still without power. City Light estimates that it will be 1am before power is restored to everyone.

If you know anyone in Shoreline or Lake Forest Park who is without power and not in the area marked on the map, call the Outage Hot Line 206-684-7400 and report the address.

And if you know someone who lives in the area marked in red, you might want to call to see if they need anything.


Read more...

Power in North City and LFP to be restored by 6pm Sunday


A downed line, probably caused by a tree or tree branch, left 6,000 City Light customers without power this morning. By 2pm, it was down to about 2,474 customers in North City and Lake Forest Park near the county line.


By 2:25pm the North City lines had been brought back and 1,212 customers in LFP remain without power.


Read more...

Seattle City Light installing LEDs in Shoreline streetlamps

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

From the Office of the City Manager

Beginning September 20, Seattle City Light’s (SCL) contractor, Potelco, will begin installing LED lamps in all of Shoreline’s streetlights, except those on arterial streets. Installation will continue through mid to late October.

LED streetlights use significantly less energy than the high-pressure sodium lamps in use today. LEDs also last longer. Once all 40,000 streetlights are installed across SCL’s service area, the combined energy and maintenance savings will be approximately $2.4 million per year.

Residents will notice a definite difference in lighting between the currently used lights and LEDs. LEDs produce a white light that is comparable to moonlight making it easier to identify colors and smaller objects than the amber glow produced by the high-pressure sodium lamps. LED lights are also Dark Sky friendly, reducing the amount of light pollution in the night sky.

SCL began testing the LEDs in several residential neighborhoods in Seattle in 2010 to determine the best fixtures to use. So far SCL has received very favorable results from follow-up surveys. In fact, 85% of respondents approved of the new lights in their neighborhoods.

Potelco will move west to east in 10-block sections starting at N 145th Street.

To learn more about the program visit the City Light webpage  If you have questions or concerns, contact SCL’s customer service line at 206-684-7056.


Read more...

Power outage blamed on bird - again

Sunday, July 3, 2011

On Friday, July 1, 2011, there was a power outage in Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, and North Seattle that caused 2,500 City Light customers to lose electricity. Power went out about 5:30 a.m. and was fully restored as of 7:25 a.m.

For the second time this year, crews discovered a bird had caused a short in a wire which tripped a circuit which shut off the power.

The rough boundaries were:
  • North: NE Perkins Way
  • South: NE 125th Street
  • West: Meridian Avenue
  • East: 35th Avenue NE

Read more...

Update: City Light giving Shoreline residents free florescent lights

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Wikipedia
Update 6-23-2011 11:55pm  
A City of Shoreline employee points out that "Since the City Light installers aren’t actually selling anything, they are not required to carry a City solicitor’s permit.  They will be carrying SCL identification and wearing SCL uniforms and hats."
-------------------------
These door to door solicitors in Shoreline are authorized and their products are free.

Seattle City Light has expanded its Powerful Neighborhoods program to the City of Shoreline. Originally designed to target seniors and low-income residents, the program includes any City Light customer who might not have participated in energy conservation programs.

The program provides and installs free compact florescent light bulbs and low-flow shower heads and faucet water restrictors.

Residents will receive a letter inviting them to make an appointment with an installer. Installers will also go door to door and if the resident is home, can do the installation on the spot. Residents can call 206-449-1132 to schedule an appointment or send an email request.

To quality, a resident must live in a single-family home or a two to six unit condo.

Seattle City Light is working with Ecos Consulting, Cascadia Consulting, the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS), and Working Green to hire and train installers, schedule home visits, and deliver and install the products.

All installers undergo background checks and drug-screening. Installers fluent in more than a dozen languages, including Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Amharic and Cantonese, are available to visit homes where English is not the primary language. All staff carry Seattle City Light identification. Short profiles and photos of all installers can be seen online.

All residents should still be wary of door to door solicitors. Solicitors are required to carry a permit from the city they are in. This is true for both Shoreline and Lake Forest Park.  

Read more...

Power outage blamed on bird

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Seattle City Light reports that power has been restored to an outage area in north Seattle, Shoreline, and Lake Forest Park that affected 5,171 customers.

Crews determined that a bird caused a piece of equipment to short circuit and start a small pole fire.

The boundaries were on the north; NE 185th St., on the south; NE 120th St., on the east; 33rd Ave NE and on the west, Corliss Ave N.

Not all customers within the boundaries were affected. The original outage began at 6:58 a.m. Power was fully restored at 8:55 a.m.

Read more...

Power outage in parts of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park

According to Seattle City Light, there is a power outage in Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, and north Seattle leaving 5,171 customers without power. Crews are on site determining the cause and making repairs.

The boundaries are on the north: NE 185th St.; on the south, NE 120th St.; on the east, 33rd Ave NE and on the west, Corliss Ave N.

Crews on site believe they will have power back around 10 am.


Read more...

Men at Work in Ridgecrest neighborhood

Monday, May 2, 2011

by Patty Hale

The song "Who Can It Be Now," an '80's release by the band Men at Work, was played out on one block of 8th Ave NE in Shoreline on Wednesday, April 27.

Action on the street in the Ridgecrest Neighborhood by men at work included a training exercise by the Shoreline Fire Department. 

Using the hook and ladder truck, along with other apparatus, Fire Department personnel took advantage of the steeply pitched roof at the Tabernacle Baptist Church to practice their rescue and fire fighting techniques.

Instead of cold water putting out a hot fire, Rich works in the back of the Washington Energy service truck readying parts and equipment for the installation of a water heater that will turn cold water hot for an 8th Ave resident.

Men from Kemp West, contracted by Seattle City Light to trim around high voltage transmission lines, were also hard at work.

Cody Holmes
High off the ground, in the boom, is local Ridgecrest resident, Cody Holmes, who has been employed by Kemp West for the past 3 years.




8th Ave resident, Ken Marable using a log splitter, makes quick work of of a back-breaking job as he helps a neighbor with her fire wood.

I am sure that there were also women at work today on 8th. Their toys just weren't as big or as loud.

Photos by Patty Hale.

Read more...

Seattle City Light completes streetlight inspections - no new problems

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Seattle City Light contractors have completed safety testing on more that 37,000 metal streetlight poles in its service area and identified 49 with contact voltage. This lights have been taken off-line and will be repaired.

City Light initiated testing after the death of a dog that stepped on an energized groundcover plate in Queen Anne in November.

The utility also identified contact voltage in privately owned lights. They have notified all commercial, business, institutional, and other governmental entities about the potential for contact voltage associated with metal lamp posts that may be on their property.

City Light does not maintain these lights and cannot require them to be tested or repaired. That responsibility is with each owner.

Dog owners still need to be cautious about metal poles, particularly if they are on private property.

Read more...

1,205 homes in LFP briefly without power Friday

Friday, January 14, 2011

Seattle City Light crews worked quickly to restore power to 1,205 customers in Lake Forest Park who lost power when a tree limb came in contact with a power line.

The rough boundaries for the outage were:
  • North: NE 197th Street
  • South: Lake Washington
  • East: 61st Avenue NE
  • West: Perkins Way

City Light posts a map with the areas affected by power outages.

Read more...

Defective street lights found in Shoreline

Monday, January 10, 2011

Report from Seattle City Light
Seattle City Light conducted extensive testing on metal streetlights and associated facilities during the weekend and identified 16 more locations with contact voltage of at least 30 volts. In each case, City Light crews immediately cut off power and started repairs. No people or pets were injured in any of the incidents.

Inspection teams made great progress toward completing tests on all metal streetlight poles and associated facilities. The final count of streetlights and associated groundcover facilities could reach about 34,000 pieces of equipment. A final count will be available once all testing of our service territory is complete.

We estimate that about 6,000 pieces of equipment remain to be tested. City Light expects those tests will be finished within a week, depending on the weather conditions.

The inspections are part of City Light’s ongoing safety testing efforts. City Light initiated testing after the death of a dog that stepped on an energized groundcover plate in Queen Anne in November and two other unrelated reports of energized metal streetlight equipment. Two contractors – Davey Resources Group and Power Survey Co. – are conducting the testing.

City Light’s contractors have identified a total of 34 locations with contact voltage in addition to seven previously recorded by City Light for a total of 41.

The industry average for contact voltage potential is 0.3 percent. City Light’s finding to date is 0.15 percent.

Locations in Shoreline where the latest contact voltage incidents were found:
  • A pole near 30th Avenue NE and NE 145th Street, 51 volts, a faulty traffic sign was repaired
  • A streetlight near 10th Avenue NW and NW 175th Place, Shoreline, 68 volts, bad wiring, power cut off, repairs pending
  • A streetlight near Meridian Avenue N. and N. 147th Street, Shoreline, 82 volts, bad wiring, power cut off, repairs pending
  • A streetlight near NW 175th Place and 10th Avenue NW, Shoreline, 93 volts, bad wiring, power cut off, repairs pending

City Light began the inspections in the City of Seattle, then moved to the south portion of their coverage area. They just recently started inspecting in Shoreline, and have not finished. Lake Forest Park will be next.

In the meantime, keep your dogs away from light poles.


Read more...

City Light to inspect metal streetlights for shock hazards to dogs

Monday, December 13, 2010

Superintendent Jorge Carrasco of Seattle City Light announced plans to inspect and make repairs, if necessary, to any of the 20,000 metal streetlight poles and 10,000 metal “hand holes” (small streetlight vault covers) in the utility’s service territory.

Last month a dog stepped on an energized metal plate covering a small streetlight vault on Queen Anne Avenue and was electrocuted.  Last Monday, City Light received a call from a customer in the High Point area who was concerned that there might be a faulty streetlight in her neighborhood.

Most of the streetlights in Shoreline and LFP seem to be mounted on wooden utility poles and the newer metal poles do not seem to be a problem, but dog walkers should be aware of the potential danger.

Read more...

Some power outages in area

Saturday, November 20, 2010

My lights flickered a couple of times this afternoon but my power did not go out.
Seattle City Light reports power outages in scattered areas, including two in our neck of the woods.

--175th and Midvale, next to City Hall, estimated restoration of services 10:50 pm

--A tree came down and knocked out power to one property in Lake Forest Park, between 33rd NE and NE 178th. No indication if it hit the house.

A tree fell on a car at Shoreline Community College. 

A tree came down in north Seattle just north of 125th and took out power to 386 properties.

If anyone knows more or has pictures of downed trees or major branches, send them along.

--DKH

Read more...

Seattle City Light Improving Streetlight Performance

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Report from Seattle City Light

With the end of daylight savings time, most of us will be depending on streetlights more often to help us get home from work, to the store or take a walk. And City Light has some good news to share.

Over the past two years, we’ve been able to cut the number of streetlights needing major repairs that could take more than 120 days to fix from a high of 1,800 to only 33 today.

We’re also finishing phase three of our group relamping project. By the end of the year City Light will have replaced every streetlight lamp in its territory south of 65th Street. This has significantly cut down on the number of lights reported out in those areas.

If you notice a streetlight that is not working correctly, you can report it and track the progress of repairs on our Streetlight Tracker.

Note:  I recently used the online system to report that my streetlight was occasionally turning off.  I got an immediate confirmation that my report had been received.  Three days later, I got an email telling me that the light had been repaired.  DKH

Read more...

City Light Replacing 16 Utility Poles in Shoreline

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Seattle City Light started work September 8 to replace 16 utility poles along 5th Avenue NE between 165th and 185th streets in Shoreline.

Work will continue on this project throughout September and could involve some small, planned outages. Field crews will notify any affected residents.

If necessary, “no parking” barricades will be set up to provide adequate work space for trucks and crews.

Read more...

Seattle City Light video contest seeks energy vampire slayers

Thursday, August 26, 2010


Energy vampires are lurking in your home, sucking the electricity out of your outlets when you don’t even know it. Now, it’s time to strike back.

Forks isn’t the only place in Washington that knows how to handle vampires. In fact, just in time for Halloween, Seattle City Light is holding a “Slay Your Energy Vampires” video contest. The utility invites residential customers to upload videos of up to 90 seconds in length to show the energy vampires in their homes and what they’re doing to get rid of them.

“We hope this contest will be a fun way for people to learn how they can save money by eliminating wasted energy,” Superintendent Jorge Carrasco said. “I’m looking forward to watching their videos and perhaps picking up a few tips, too.”

Videos will be accepted throughout September. All entrants will receive an energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulb. Public voting will determine 10 finalists. The grand prize winner, as well as second and third finishers will be picked by judges from the finalists and announced on or about October 25. Creativity will be rewarded.

Grand prize is a home energy audit and an “Energy Vampire Slayer Kit,” which includes: 
  • A home energy monitor
  • An energy-saving plug strip
  • A power timer
  • An LED task-lamp
  • An LED string of holiday lights

Second and third place winners will receive a slayer kit.

Rules are available on the City Light website or the contest site.

Seattle City Light is the 10th largest public electric utility in the United States. It has some of the lowest cost customer rates of any urban utility, providing reliable, renewable and environmentally responsible power to nearly 1 million Seattle area residents. City Light has been greenhouse gas neutral since 2005, the first electric utility in the nation to achieve that distinction.


Read more...

City Light Customers now have tools to track streetlight outages

Friday, July 23, 2010

From Power Lines.  
City Light unveiled a new Web application today that will let customers track streetlights that are reported out or malfunctioning.

Featured on the utility’s website, customers can see if a particular streetlight is reported as out and get an idea of when it might be fixed. If a streetlight hasn’t been reported, the customer can use an online form located on the page to report it.

“Most of our streetlights are fixed within 10 business days of when they are reported,” City Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco said. “However, some lights have more serious problems and require more complicated repairs. Now, customers will be able to see exactly what streetlights are reported as out, and what their repair status is. This new Web application will help with some long-standing frustrations our customers have had about knowing when a streetlight will be fixed.”

The Web application is up-dated daily, five days per week. Customers still are able to talk directly with a customer service representative by calling 206-684-7056. The new service is designed to give customers better access to streetlight information and reporting streetlight outages.

Seattle City Light is the ninth largest public electric utility in the United States. It has some of the lowest cost customer rates of any urban utility, providing reliable, renewable and environmentally responsible power to nearly 1 million Seattle area residents. City Light has been greenhouse gas neutral since 2005, the first electric utility in the nation to achieve that distinction.

Read more...

City Light Life Support Equipment Program

Saturday, January 2, 2010


City Light customers who are dependent on electrical life support equipment can register with City Light so the utility is aware of their situation when there is a planned or unplanned power outage or a credit situation. Applications require a doctor's certification.

To enroll, call 206-684-3020 or visit City Light's outage website.

The Life Support Equipment Program is for residential customers living at home with electrically-operated life support equipment certified by a medical provider.

It does not give them priority for restoration of outages.

  • There is no link to 911.
  • For reasons of confidentiality, City Light cannot share this list of vulnerable customers with cities or emergency services.
  • These customers are expected to have their own backup plans to rely on during outages or emergencies. The City Light web site has links for additional preparedness information.
City Light will provide information to registered customers in advance of planned outages and, to the extent possible, storm alerts; information during outages as to cause (if known) and estimated time of restoral (if/when known), a 24/7 number to call for an update on restoral time during outages, and a callback after restoration of an outage to make sure their power is back on.

They will also get special payment or time consideration during credit actions before a shut-off for nonpayment can occur. 


Photo by TiffanyWasco

Read more...

Streetlight trouble report

Sunday, December 6, 2009


Now that the days are short and nights are long and dark, burnt out or flickering street lights are a real safety issue on the hilly terrain and open ditches lining the streets of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park. 
You can help by reporting street light problems to Seattle City Light.  First, get the street address closest to the pole, then get the specific number from the pole itself. With 84,000 streetlights to maintain, the utility appreciates citizen help. 

You can report three different ways:
 For more information, see the Seattle City Light Streetlight Trouble web page.

Photo from Seattle City Light

Read more...
ShorelineAreaNews.com
Facebook: Shoreline Area News
Twitter: @ShorelineArea
Daily Email edition (don't forget to respond to the Follow.it email)

  © Blogger template The Professional Template II by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009

Back to TOP