Seattle City Light identified four streetlights giving off voltage Wednesday night. Crews immediately cut off power and started repairs. All of the incidents were found by City Light contractors during their inspections. There were no injuries.
Seattle City Light identified four streetlights giving off voltage Wednesday night. Crews immediately cut off power and started repairs. All of the incidents were found by City Light contractors during their inspections. There were no injuries.
The latest discoveries bring the total number of streetlights found with contact voltage to 25.
The inspections are part of City Light’s ongoing safety testing and repair efforts on all its 30,000 metal streetlight poles and nearby metal facilities.
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, City Light initiated testing of all of its metal streetlight poles and related metal equipment.
Two contractors – Davey Resources Group and Power Survey Co. – are conducting the testing.
The contractors have tested about 12,500 pieces of equipment or about 42 percent of the total. Areas where testing has been completed include Seattle Center, Downtown, SODO, Capitol Hill, First Hill, West Seattle, Madrona and Tukwila.
The industry average for contact voltage potential with a metal streetlight pole is 0.3 percent. City Light’s findings are 0.2 percent.
Locations where the latest contact voltage was discovered were:
- 4427 Airport Way S, 32 volts, a faulty lamp fixture was replaced
- 12841 Shorewoord Dr SW, Burien, 31 volts, deteriorated wiring was found, power was cut off, repairs pending
- 12854 Shorewood Dr SW, Burien, 31 volts, deteriorated wiring was repaired
- 12882 Shorecrest Dr SW, Burien, 50 volts, a faulty lamp fixture was discovered, power was cut off, repairs pending