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Seattle City Light Hosts View Ridge Community Meeting

Seattle City Light is hosting a community meeting this Tuesday evening, Sept. 13, where View Ridge residents can learn the results from a project that injected underground electrical cables with silicone to extend their usable lifetime and hear an overview of what's involved in replacing the cable that was in such poor condition the injection process could not be used.

Seattle City Light is hosting a community meeting this Tuesday evening, Sept. 13, where View Ridge residents can learn the results from a project that injected underground electrical cables with silicone to extend their usable lifetime and hear an overview of what’s involved in replacing the cable that was in such poor condition the injection process could not be used.

Beginning in 2009 Seattle City Light began a program of testing and injecting aging underground electrical cables that feed power to neighborhoods. The process involves first testing the cables to determine their status. Cable found suitable is injected with silicone to force out trapped water and fill cracks in the protective insulation. The process extends the life of the cable about 20 years. To date, fifteen neighborhoods have been completed.

Approximately 58 percent of the cable tested in View Ridge was injected with silicone by our contractor Novinium. The remaining 42 percent fell into two other categories: Good Condition and Not Able to Inject. Good Condition means the cable segment was within acceptable electrical parameters and functioning properly so it did not need silicone injection. Approximately 10% fell into this category for this project. Not Able to Inject means that the cable had too much corrosion, too many splices or other damage to allow injection. Those sections are scheduled for replacement. Approximately, 32% fell into this category for this project.

The boundaries of the View Ridge silicone injection work were Sand Point Country Club on the north, NE 55th Street on the south, Sand Point Way NE on the east and 50th Ave NE on the west. All affected customers have been mailed an invitation to the meeting.  The meeting is planned for Tuesday, Sept. 13,  7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Magnuson Park in Building 406, the Garden Room.

If you have questions contact Seattle City Light’s Mark VanOss, Sr. Public Relations Specialist at (206) 684-3279 or mark.vanoss@seattle.gov .