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News and Updates from Seattle City Light

Seattle City (spot)Light: Mandana Baniani

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Mandana Baniani joined City Light IT in 2014 as Temporary Senior Quality Assurance Analyst. “When my contract ended, I moved to Asset Data Group, where I learned so much about the importance of data governance and maintaining high-quality asset data for the utility in order to improve reliability, safety, and efficiency,” Mandana explained. “Last year I became a permanent employee with the Supply Chain Management team, and I couldn’t be happier!”

Born in Iran, Mandana moved to Seattle after high school to attend Seattle University, later transferring to Central Washington University. There she earned her bachelor’s in Business Administration and Management. Mandana has lived in Washington for the past 40 years with her husband and two children..

In this week’s (spot)Light, Mandana talks about her life in Edmonds, a range of hobbies and her love for volunteer work.

Mandana with her grandchildren

“My husband and I live in Edmonds not too far from our daughter and her family and we are fortunate to spend time with our six & seven-year-old grandsons regularly and being involved in their daily lives and activities.”

“I enjoy gardening, baking, traveling and event planning. I am creative and absolutely love floral design and have done many wedding flower arrangements including my daughter’s wedding,” she shared. “I enjoy going for long walks and hikes and have participated in many 5K run/walks for various charities. I am passionate about helping those in need and I’ve been volunteering at Mary’s Place and the Ronald McDonald House for over ten years. I’ve held wreath making events with my team of volunteers during the holidays at RMH for kids and their families that are receiving care at Seattle Children’s Hospital. I find volunteering very rewarding and it’s the smallest acts of kindness that make a larger impact on the community.”

“I was initially attracted to City Light because of its flexibility in providing a work-life balance. The greatest part of my job is the people I have met that are so passionate and hardworking and strive to provide the best service to our internal and external customers. I am proud to be part of such a wonderful team here at City Light.”

Winter is Here, it’s Time to Weatherize!

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Did you know that weatherizing your home can keep you warm in the winter, cool in the summer and reduce your energy bill? Now is a great time to take advantage of theCity of Seattle’s HomeWise Weatherization program!

City of Seattle’s HomeWise improves your home and provides a healthier indoor environment while staying more comfortable year-round, not to mention reducing your energy bills. This program provides weatherization services for limited-income residents of Seattle and electrically heated homes throughout City Light’s service territory.

HomeWise includes a complete energy audit by a HomeWise property rehabilitation specialist that will:

  • identify opportunities to improve the efficiency of your home to save you money;
  • explore methods to improve the health, safety and comfort of your home;
  • evaluate opportunities for improving your home’s heating and cooling systems;
  • develop an itemized list of work to be done.

After the audit, a HomeWise professional will facilitate contracting and be there to guide you as work is done on your home.

HomeWise works with private contractors, and their work is inspected by a HomeWise specialist. This service is free for income-qualified customers. If home repairs are needed, no-interest loans are available. Click here to find out if you might qualify for the HomeWise Weatherization Program. To learn more, visit seattle.gov/housing/homeowners/weatherization.

Seattle City (spot)Light: Julianna Ross

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Julianna Ross celebrated four years at City Light in August. She’s part of the Environmental, Land & Licensing business unit where she serves as a Senior Community Program Developer. “I was hired to transition the Georgetown Steam Plant into its next chapter. City Light has owned the plant since 1951, but it’s been completely decommissioned since 1977,” Julianna explained. “It’s incredibly unique and intact, much like a museum. We’ve been offering tours to the public and I led the work with an advisory committee to determine next steps. Based on their recommendations, the plan is for City Light to maintain ownership of the building and have a non-profit take over daily operations with a focus on education, arts, and other community programming. The agreement is almost signed so this is going to take place soon!”

Originally from Colorado, Julianna and her family moved to Bellevue when she was six. She later returned to Colorado to attend the University of Colorado where she majored in journalism. “I still love journalism and believe that I use my degree every day in the work that I do,” she shared. Julianna and her husband lived in California before returning to the Seattle area in 2000 to be closer to family. 

In this week’s (spot)Light, learn about Julianna’s work, her passion for historic preservation and her involvement in the community.

“My position with City Light is half-time and at the other time, I serve as executive director of an arts non-profit called SPACE (Sand Point Arts and Cultural Exchange). The organization was formed in 1994 when the U.S. Navy transferred the former Sand Point Naval Air Station property to the City of Seattle. We now operate a low power FM radio station (Space 101.1) and the Magnuson Park Gallery. Our board of directors and I intend to save other historic buildings in the district and also activate them for the arts.”

“As an advocate for historic preservation, it’s been a dream to work with the Georgetown Steam Plant. It was built in the early 1900s to fuel Seattle’s electric streetcar system and it ended up fueling the economic growth of neighboring cities as well. It features historic equipment from the time period and became an official historic landmark in 1984. I often say that ‘you can’t care about a building you don’t know about. The Georgetown Steam Plant deserves a lot of care from the community and there is a resounding love for it, but there are also a lot of people who don’t even know about it. So, I generate awareness and access through public outreach to the community and help produce good news through our programs and media relations.”

“I credit my love of historic preservation from growing up in Bellevue. When I was a kid, Bellevue still had a lot of agricultural areas and practically nothing in terms of historic landmarks – downtown Seattle was the place to go.  I’ve always valued the craft and character of older buildings and the stories they tell.”

“One place I’d love to travel and see the historical architecture is Pittsburgh. I love Chicago and New York, but I need to travel more! I have to say that the Georgetown Steam plant is phenomenal; I have no doubt it will be an internationally recognized heritage tourism destination. I’ve also always had a soft spot for the Smith Tower and if I had all the money in the world, one of the first things I would do is buy it and make sure it’s taken care of forever!”

Powerful Lines: City Light’s Approach to Keep Its Customers Out of the Dark 

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This story was published originally in the December 2019 issue of Northwest Public Power Association Bulletin Magazine. Please note: positions and titles of contributors may have changed since the time of original publication.

When someone thinks about Western Washington, a few things come to mind: Mount Rainier, Puget Sound and trees…a lot of trees. While most people who live in the area, especially in and around Seattle, love its densely vegetated state, it can come at a cost. Fall and winter windstorms create havoc for the area’s infrastructure, bringing down large trees and branches onto power lines. Like other utilities, Seattle City Light then activates its crews to restore power to the sometimes thousands of customers left in the dark.   

But even on a “blue sky day,” with uneventful weather, City Light still had challenges with its level of reliability within its service area, especially within those pockets of plentiful vegetation. Crews would have to patrol the lines to find the issue following a fault from a feeder. 

In 2016, City Light hired a consultant to analyze the utility’s entire feeder system. From that report, they identified 79 feeders with the most common outages within the last five years.  

The utility began to install Fault Location Isolation and Service Restoration (FLISR) devices across the northern region of its service area in 2015. While they began to see an improvement in reliability, the devices still worked independently of each other. That’s when they hired Ryan Pham, project lead for distribution automation, to implement a pilot program to organize the FLISR devices. This shift in focus by City Light led to a new level of optimizing this technology and system for the utility and, ultimately, its customers.   

City Light crews installing the FLISR system
City Light crews installing the FLISR system

On a standard feeder, it can take hours or even days to restore power following an outage. When a feeder experiences a fault, all its customers will lose power, crews often patrol the entire feeder main to locate the fault, and drive to different switch locations to manually operate the switches, isolating the problem, before repairing the fault. The FLISR switch reduces both the number of customers affected by outage and restoration time. The only customer within a faulty segment will experience sustained outage instead of customers on the entire feeder. Crews need to patrol on the faulty segment only, and switching is done automatically or remotely. The system including several “smart switches” along with a secured, reliable communication network and integration to the Energy Management System. The system can detect, isolate the fault, and reroute power quickly, often within 20 seconds.     

With the amount of staff time, it takes to restore power, coupled with the customers’ losses, such as spoiled food or downtime for commercial and industrial customers, the total cost of these outages can add up quickly. According to Ryan, this technology was put to the test almost immediately. The system passed with flying colors.   

In 2016, FLISR reduced the number of customers affected by an outage by more than 13,300 compared to those without the system. That’s two million fewer minutes of interruption compared to the estimated outcomes of those without the system.   

“Our team put one new system in service on Nov. 4, 2017. Four days later, a storm caused a large outage, impacting that same area. The system automatically rerouted the power in seconds, saving 95% of the customers with the faulty feeder from the sustained outage,” Ryan recalled. “FLISR can identify, isolate the faulty segment and restore power to the majority of customers automatically, which truly benefits everyone.”  

As with all new technologies, the installation and testing of the system did take time and resources. The pilot project required significant planning from across the utility, along with multiple levels of training. From dispatchers within the System Operation Center to line workers to engineers, the success of FLISR is predicated on everyone knowing the roles of each group.  

The benefits of the system are cascading down throughout the utility. Less patrolling the lines with City Light vehicles means less staff time and a smaller carbon footprint. It also means switching is done remotely, and fewer crews out in the elements during a storm, keeping crews safer. The system also monitors and records the feeders’ loading, which is valuable data for various engineering and operation groups. Its robust communication network can also serve other new grid modernization technologies. 

“We continue to see the benefits of this system even today,” Ryan explained. “It was made possible by advanced communication and computing technologies, something that wouldn’t have been possible 30 years ago.”  

Uzma Siddiqi, City Light’s automation engineering supervisor, believes that installing a system like FLISR is a foundational component of how the utility can bolster its responses to outages in the future. “This system creates new levels of situational awareness within our system,” she said. “With this type of infrastructure, we have now designed our system to equip those trying to solve the problem in real-time with more tools to use and more information. Above all, it helps set up our employees for success.”  

The FLISR project lives under the umbrella of distribution automation and is a crucial project under City Light’s collective work of grid modernization. The utility’s litany of projects under the grid modernization umbrella includes Advanced Metering, Outage Management System, new types of conductors, and, among others, line sensor technology. Projects like these, while incredibly beneficial to both the utility and the customers, uncover new obstacles and work for the respective teams.   

“You get smarter with these types of projects as you progress,” Uzma explained. “We take a continuous improvement approach to ensure that the technology is maintained properly while ready for the next project.”   

City Light has plans to install more FLISR systems to the identified least reliable feeders. As the utility continues to implement these technologies, Uzma believes, City Light will continue to improve on its commitment to its customers.   

“There is great grid modernization going on at this utility and FLISR is another prime example of how City Light evolves as a utility. It’s part of the story.”   

Y2K 20 Years Later: An oral history of the final moments of the 20th century at Seattle City Light

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It’s hard to believe that this time 20 years ago, the world was preparing for the new millennium. From the infamous “Y2K Bug” to stocking up on canned goods, the months leading up to Y2K was a time of bracing for the unknown. For Seattle City Light, preparing for Y2K took on many forms. While there were minimal issues, some employees did incur a few tense minutes leading up to and following midnight, Jan. 1, 2000.  

This is an oral history told from the perspective of five City Light employees of how the utility prepared for the event and where they were the night of Dec. 31, 1999.  

1999: A Year of Preparation 

Steve O’Kelley (Communications, now retired): The way it was portrayed on the national scene was that planes could fall out of the sky and power would go out everywhere. There was a lot of hype to it. I say the average person I worked with didn’t believe that any of that could happen…probably.

Peter DiTuri (Sr. Management Systems Analyst): Up until that time, a lot of computer systems didn’t have the memory or disk space like the smartphone you have in your pocket today. When programs were written, they took up as little space as possible. Memory and disk space were expensive, so to get around this problem, programmers made applications that only used two-digit years like ‘89, ‘67, ‘04, etc. That works fine until you had to include something starting on Jan. 1, 2000 or later. Then, you had to store the full date and even calculate differences between dates, and not making 2-digit years into 4-digit years resulted in wrong or insensible values. Although Y2K was anticipated for many, many years, procrastination turned Y2K into a crisis.

“There is a lot of information available on Y2K, some of it accurate and well-reasoned; some that is misleading and unduly frightening. The City of Seattle is determined to clearly communicate the City’s progress towards readiness and to provide you with the resources you need.”

– City of Seattle’s Y2K website

Bill Davis (Telecommunications Supervisor, now retired): We didn’t have computers the last time we went into a new century. So no one really knew for sure what was going to happen. 

Peter DiTuri: The City of Seattle was on top of this. The Executive Services Division took the lead for Y2K remediation efforts. Each department had to identify each individual application or system hardware or software that had a danger of failing if not remediated or replaced by Jan. 1, 2000. They could be small databases on someone’s work computer, giant enterprise applications or major pieces of equipment. Y2K was a 100% human-caused problem but with a 100% known solution.

Back then, we had an IBM mainframe. The problem with it was that IBM no longer produced the parts for that machine, and the operating system wasn’t being updated, so it had to go away. City Light had its Transformer and Network Load Management applications on the mainframe and we had to figure out what the lost source code was for the applications, then we (this is really cool) disassembled the application, wrote flowcharts of pseudo-code, rewrote the application code in Fortran, correcting for Y2K (of course) and imported it over to the Sun Solaris server where it ran for many, many years after. So getting a program off the mainframe was a necessary solution for Y2K as well as updating lots of source code and changing programs to handle four-digit years.

An article on preparing for Y2K in the August 1999 issue of Network,
City Light’s internal publication

Bill Greif (Sr. Data Processing Systems Analyst): The team came up with a plan for how to check everything that was running and test it out. We went through a lot of tests. We checked the equipment in a test environment to see what would happen when the clock inside the equipment went over into 2000.

Peter DiTuri: Other programs we had to update so they would accepted dates past Y2K up to 9999, we won’t be here for that occurrence. But we did have to test for other dates, too. We had to make sure that Feb. 29, 2000 was also valid since 2000 was indeed a Leap Year. 1900 was not and neither was 2100. Y2K was a continuous process to make sure dates like that still worked. 

Steve O’Kelley: One of the things we did as a group was to identify the equipment that could be susceptible to a problem from Y2K. A contractor inventoried our equipment. I worked on telephone switching equipment and some communications gear that switched out to the substations. The feeling in the group was that nothing much was really going to happen.

“Four years of hard work and preparation will be put to the test Friday evening, through the following Monday, the first business morning of the new millennium. I am confident we’ll ace that test.”

-Gary Zarker,
City Light Superintendent, in a memo on Dec. 27, 1999

5…4…3…2…1…Darkness 

Peter DiTuri: We had the plan for staffing for the night of in case something went wrong. There were dedicated workstations and PCs in our Trouble Center (Seattle Municipal Tower room 3613) in case there were any major outages or any problems major to our system. We did have one workstation fail after zero hour, but we isolated the issue to a machine configuration issue and I was able to fix it fairly quickly.

On that particular day, (Dec. 31, 1999) I was working in City Light IT, our “war room” was in SMT 2921, and we had a pizza party. We also had mandatory overtime. Management and the unions had agreed that this was an odd situation, so we in IT staff assigned to staff Y2K were set to work up to 24 hours – but we never worked that long. I worked from 6 p.m. to about 3:30 a.m. New Year’s morning.

As we came closer to zero hour, we watched the Space Needle on the TV and we knew it was close to time. I had my CD player so I took it out and I popped in a CD and it started playing REM’s ‘It’s the End of the World (As We Know It)’ [laughter] I could not take Y2K seriously. At that point, we had reports from across the world and nothing was going wrong! It was like…why are we even here now? But you never know what could have happened if something crucial didn’t get fixed as it should have.

Steve O’Kelley: I was at the System Control Center (SCC) at midnight. I didn’t pick up any great worries. We turned the conference rooms into media centers so that the TV stations could plug in if they showed up. We had TVs set up so they could pick up KING and KOMO. 

Bill Davis: Everything went fine until around midnight when the lights went out at Queen Anne. Everybody thought at the time ‘well oh shoot, something went wrong.’

“SEATTLE – Just a few moments after midnight there were a few power outages in Seattle. But at this point it’s unclear of this was Y2K computer problems or something else. Seattle City Light reports about 1,500 customers were without power momentarily. All power was restored.” 

-KOMO

Bill Davis: It turned out to be mylar balloons caught up in transmission lines around midnight. Everybody breathed a sigh of relief. We had all the media down at the SCC. The City Light superintendent was down there so everyone was there watching. I went to each station to hand out cookies and non-alcoholic champagne and tried to stay out of the way of the dignitaries and the press. Then they let us go home around 2 a.m.  

Bill Greif: NYE was actually a pretty fun night. We had the news media here [at the SCC] and we were all hanging out in the control room waiting for something to break. One of our employees had a yellow ergonomic ball chair and put a smiley face on it and put it on the ladder we use to get up to the pinboard here. He tried to set it up for it to roll down at midnight but it started early and made the news for that. 

Alone on Y2K 

While City Light employees prepared to welcome in the new millennium across Seattle, Rusty Welshon anxiously waited with some concern at City Light’s remote Tolt Powerhouse.  

Rusty Welshon (Electrician Constructor and Operator at Cedar Falls and Tolt powerhouses): I was at Tolt which is all computer-controlled. It uses Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), an industrial process computer. Tolt was the first real computer-controlled powerplant that we had. All the other ones had a hydraulic, mechanical controlled system that was more manual. We had a PLC and an interface between you and the machine called a Human Machine Interface (HMI), which had a series of screens that you could rotate through. Two months prior, we did a trial run by changing the date of the PLC to Dec. 31 at 11 p.m. and let it run to see what would happen. The HMI screen twisted out of shape and the numbers were all distorted.

We suspected that…We didn’t….ummm…(chuckle) we didn’t know what the heck it was what going to do.  

We couldn’t get any information out of it, and we couldn’t get into the program. We were concerned, not overly, but we were concerned because we didn’t know what it was going to do. 

Tolt’s a smaller plant, only 16MW so it wasn’t critical for it to be in operation at midnight on Dec. 31. We turned off the generator because we didn’t know what was going to happen.  

So 11:59 p.m. rolls around, I’m all by myself in the middle of the mountains up above Carnation. I have a flashlight and the PLC ready to be plugged back in and I have my hand on the hydraulic handle so I can shut down and freeze everything in case things went catawampus. If the hydraulics started to move, things could have gotten scary so I was ready to lock it down if needed.  

And sure enough, the PLC distorted almost as if it was a crumpled piece of paper. Then it displayed weird numbers. So what had happened during the trial happened again. So I plugged my computer back in and waited until 12:30 a.m. so whatever would have happened will have happened. I fixed all the numbers and called the dispatcher to see if I was good to get it running again. I started it up after adjusting the numbers and everything was found. It was anticlimactic,  but it was not Y2K compliant so there were wrinkles and we had to adjust. And we didn’t know what was going to happen. To a degree, it was a tense moment because Y2K was a real thing and it came upon everyone faster than we thought.

Surviving Y2K and Moving Forward  

Peter DiTuri: Planning for Y2K was a team effort. It really was. Everyone was on board and knew what and what the City needed to have in place. If anything, Y2K made us define our business processes as a utility and what our points of failure could be. We had to outline our processes and figure out alternatives in case something bad were to happen. It still applies today. We are now more susceptible to failures than in Y2K because of our reliance on the Internet, and many mistakenly assume that disruptions from disasters only result in short-term, minor inconveniences.

Peter DiTuri’s “Y2K Bug” plush toy.

Bill Greif: We were ready to go into manual mode if necessary. We were pretty confident that if something did happen then we would be able to manage it. Other than that, we had done so many exercises prior to make it a non-event. I was on the phone with a friend around midnight who was kind of a prepper who said ‘just wait, Bill’ and then midnight hit and nothing happened. And then he said ‘yeah, it’s still early, Bill. Just wait. Shipping will quit and we won’t be able to get food.’ which never happened.

Bill Davis: It was kind of a good experience, having all of those units working together and help each other out. It was an interesting time. 

Steve O’Kelley’s Y2K gag gift

Steve O’Kelley: It did get kind of hyped. The internet was kind of around but not a lot of people had it. So you believed what was in the paper and talk radio. My biggest regret was not keeping this one cannister of hot cocoa that had an expiration date of 1901, not 2001. That’s where they made a subtraction of the dates. Those are the kinds of things that got most people, using the last two digits. 

When I saw a request for stories about Y2K, I thought to myself ‘wow, I can’t believe it’s been 20 years.’ It seems like yesterday, but it wasn’t. 

A special thank you to those who contributed to this oral history.
If you were a City Light employee during Y2K, we would love to hear your story! Email nathan.macdonald@seattle.gov with the subject line: “Y2K at City Light.”

Electrical Upgrades Planned in the Delridge Neighborhood

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Seattle City Light crews plan to upgrade the electrical reliability of the Delridge neighborhood by replacing aging utility poles, overhead wires and equipment along Southwest Brandon Street, 21st Avenue Southwest, Southwest Andover Street, and 23rd Avenue Southwest. These improvements will support growth for future electrical infrastructure in the area while reducing unplanned power outages.

Construction will occur on 21st Avenue Southwest and associated surrounding areas.

This project is scheduled to begin in January 2020 and will have impacts to the surrounding areas. Crews will reduce traffic and parking impacts by working in one area at a time. Traffic will be restricted and “No Park” signs will be enforced in work zones. The signs will be removed once work has been completed.

Maintenance power outages are required to complete the upgrade safely. Notifications will be provided in advance of the outages. The notification will specify the date, time and duration of the outage.

Map of construction work area within the Delridge neighborhood
Construction work areas within the Delridge neighborhood

Daily construction work hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nights and weekend work may be needed to complete the work. This project is projected to last five months.

For more information, customers can contact Thomas Gravell, Electric Service Representative Supervisor at (206) 386-1672 or thomas.gravell@seattle.gov.

Visit Seattle City Light’s “At Work in Your Neighborhood” website for the latest updates on this project and others in your neighborhood.

Seattle City Light Unveils its new site in SODO for Public Electric Vehicle Charging

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On Tuesday, Dec. 17, City Light held an event to officially unveil its latest public electric vehicle (EV) fast chargers near the utility’s South Service Center. The SODO fast chargers, located southeast of the intersection of 4th Avenue South and South Spokane Street, is the utility’s second location for publicly available EV fast chargers, with more installations planned in 2020.   

The site includes four EV fast chargers and a dual-port Level 2 charger. Depending on the electric vehicle, the fast chargers can dispense upwards of 165 miles of range per hour of charge time, while the Level 2 chargers can dispense up to 30 miles of range per hour. The chargers are located in a publicly accessible parking lot in the SODO neighborhood.   

“The new EV fast chargers are part of a larger transportation electrification strategy. They will allow us to leverage our clean electricity and reach the city of Seattle’s goals of reducing carbon emissions by 2050,” said Debra Smith, General Manager and CEO of Seattle City Light. “This pilot will help us understand the impacts of EV charging on the electrical system as we lay the groundwork to support electrifying all modes of transportation, from passenger vehicles to buses, the Port of Seattle, heavy-duty vehicles and ferries.” 

Electric Vehicle fast chargers near City Light South Service Center
EV fast chargers near City Light South Service Center

City Light also shared a new time-of-day fee structure for the public EV fast chargers. The “Daytime” cost-to-charge is from Monday-Saturday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. The “All Other Hours” cost-to-charge is all hours on Sunday and Monday-Saturday from 12:00 a.m.-6:59 a.m. and 7:01 p.m.-11:59 p.m. 

“The new fee structure sets a price point that demonstrates the cost-effectiveness of utilizing electric vehicles,” Victor Couto, public EV pilot program manager, said. “Being stewards of offering affordable electricity, City Light established fees comparative to gasoline that benefit our customers while bringing more electrical load to our system.”

With Seattle boasting one of the larger populations of electric vehicles in the country, City Light is installing 20 publicly accessible EV fast chargers throughout the utility’s service area. EV fast chargers will be distributed across the utility’s service area so that charging is accessible to all customers, especially in areas where the private sector is not installing EV infrastructure. Before breaking ground in a neighborhood, City Light performs extensive research to identify optimal locations that are near major arterial roads and amenities that meet the technical requirements for delivering power to that location.

City Light is committed to delivering equitable outcomes through its future transportation electrification efforts. City Light is conducting outreach and engaging directly with communities, specifically those that have been traditionally underrepresented and disadvantaged. Community Outreach Manager Jenny Levesque believes these sessions are imperative for City Light to be successful.   

“We want to have an open dialogue and keep communities involved in the process,” Jenny explained. “We value and welcome their input to ensure that these transportation electrification solutions align with the needs of the community.”   

City Light is developing a Transportation Electrification Plan that will identify priorities for investment in charging infrastructure City Light will make to increase equitable access to electric transportation, reduce carbon emissions, and bring value to the grid and our customers. We are focused on solutions that align with City Light’s transportation electrification value framework of equity, environment, and the grid. City Light is seeking to understand the transportation needs of the communities we serve.   

“The reduced fees come at a time when City Light is developing a Transportation Electrification Plan that will identify priorities for the utility’s investments in increasing equitable access to electric transportation, reducing carbon emissions, and bringing value to the electric grid and City Light customers,” said Emeka Anyanwu, City Light’s Energy Innovation and Resources Officer. 

City Light will release more information on the plan as it is available.   

City Light plans to install at least four sites across its service area by mid-2020. The locations and expected completion dates include:  

  • Magnuson Park (Q1 2020);   
  • Alaska Junction in West Seattle (Q1 2020);  
  • Madison-Miller located at 22nd Ave and East Olive Street (Q1 2020);  
  • Tukwila (Q2 2020);
  • Additional sites are to be determined.

Each station will host a variety of charger types, bringing at least 20 chargers to its network of stations. Currently, the utility is researching 11 different sites throughout City Light’s service area.  

These chargers, coupled with future pilot programs, including residential EV charging, City Light feels it is in the driver’s seat as electrification becomes more affordable and available.   

“Above all, we want to offer a suite of EV options for our customers,” Victor explained. “We are meeting the current demand.”  

The SODO charging station is available for public use and is on the popular EV charging app PlugShare. For more information on City Light’s electric vehicle programs and initiatives, visit energysolutions.seattle.gov/electric-vehicles/.   

Seattle City Light releases East Marginal Way Storm Investigation Recommendations Report

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On Oct. 9, 2019, Seattle City Light released the first part of the final report on the East Marginal Way pole collapse conducted by third-party consultants, which summarized the causation findings (i.e., the investigation report). As promised at that time, we are now releasing the second part, the experts’ recommendations for improvements to reduce risk for future recurrence.

The consultants identified improvements we can make in our wooden pole testing and strength rating system, conditioning and treatments, coordination with partners, and more. Generally, we agree with the recommendations. In our commitment to the safety of our community and our workers, we have already begun implementing some changes while we lay the groundwork for and/or evaluate others. We anticipate most efforts will be implemented within six months, with several occurring sooner.

In line with the recommendations, we will:

  • Collect better data on the strength of the poles in service and exchange results with co-owners of poles that also are used for communications lines under joint ownership agreements. We are already working with CenturyLink to share data and coordinate testing.
  • Improve our pole rating system. We are convening a task force that will update our pole asset management program, including redefining the remaining strength range categories, establishing specific timeframes for replacement and refining prioritization criteria.
  • Reimplement a restoration program involving trussing and steel stays, where appropriate and safe, to extend the life of poles at the higher end of remaining strength. This is cheaper and faster than replacement.
  • Update specifications on new poles to ensure proper conditioning and treatment prior to purchase. The task force will modify these standards as part of its work.
  • Pilot alternative pole treatments and pole caps to reduce decay and enhance pole protection while also meeting our community’s environmental stewardship values. We have already contacted a vendor and requested some poles treated with an alternative suggested by the experts and are committed to evaluating the use of pole caps.

“The pole collapse along East Marginal Way has been a critical wake-up call. Seattle City Light will be more aggressive in replacing weakened poles,” said Debra Smith, City Light General Manager and CEO. “I appreciate the experts’ invaluable work to investigate the incident and to assess our program. We are taking their recommendations seriously and working diligently to implement improvements.”

“As I said in October, this is an essential capital improvement program and I am prioritizing public safety above all else. We will redirect funds and resources from other CIP projects, which will likely be deferred. However, our direct customer services will not be impacted, and we will not raise rates to cover the costs of these efforts.”

Since October, we have assigned a dedicated project manager to oversee pole replacements; hired three contractors to supplement replacements done by our crews; and worked with the Seattle Department of Transportation to expedite the permitting process so we can get this work done faster. Including work on order, crews and contractors will have replaced about 190 poles between Oct. 10 and year end. This rate of replacement will continue as we move into 2020 and finalize our longer-term plan. While still being developed, we are looking to replace 1,400-2,000 poles annually over the next five years, depending on the availability of funding and resources.

East Marginal Way Storm – Recommendations Report

East Marginal Way Storm Findings and Recommendations FAQ

Let it Snow: How City Light Snowpack Study Guides its Hydroelectric Production

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The team preparing to take a snowpack sample

The expansive Cascade Range serves as a backdrop throughout the Western U.S. With its iconic peaks piercing the sky; it’s no wonder that travelers from across the world visit the range each year. But the Cascade Range, specifically the North Cascades and the Canadian Cascades, is also vital to the success of Seattle City Light and its production of clean hydropower.

Each spring, the range’s melted snowpack, or runoff flows down into a system of reservoirs that power the utility’s Skagit Hydroelectric Project. City Light monitors the water levels closely to ensure that the project operates at full capacity while meeting specific reservoir-level requirements under its federal license. These water levels are essential for flood control, the protection of salmon spawning habitats, recreation and energy production.

This delicate balance requires precise planning and forecasting by City Light and its partners to keep the environment safe and the generators running. Part of this planning requires helicopters, warm clothes and snow…lots of snow.   

Weighing the snowpack sample tube

To prepare for the anticipated spring runoff, City Light partners with the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service to make the excursion to multiple peaks and passes at varying elevations across the Cascade Range throughout northern Washington and southern British Columbia to measure the level of the snowpack, a practice dating back to the 1930s. The surveyors aim to reach the locations via helicopter, some as high up as 6,000’ starting during the last week of December, monthly through the last week of April, weather permitting. Using a large aluminum tube, the teams take snow samples deep through the snowpack until they hit the solid ground below the snowpack. They then extract the tube sample out of the snowpack and weigh the tube. The weight of the snowpack in the tube is recorded and City Light then converts that into the forecasted water runoff. All told, the teams collect samples during five ends of the month studies, including locations in British Columbia since 40% of the Skagit Hydroelectric Project’s drainage area is in British Columbia. (Historically, only approximately 25% of the runoff volume comes from across the border.)

Ole Kjosnes, City Light’s senior power analyst, has spearheaded the testing on behalf of the utility for decades. For him, this work is not only a keystone to the success of City Light, it also helps the utility prepare for possible challenges in the future. 

“We’ve noticed that the runoff is happening earlier than in the past, so we have to prepare for the runoff to meet our needs. Overall, there was more snow in the 50s through 80s compared to the last 20 years. If that trend continues, we will need to adapt. 

Above all, the snowpack study determines how we operate the entire system. You can’t operate our system without it.”

Seattle City (spot)Light: Ryan Simmons

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Ryan Simmons joined City Light in 2015 as the fisheries field coordinator for the Boundary Licensing Team and is now a project manager, overseeing several fisheries projects. “My projects are designed to improve conditions for trout and mountain whitefish populations native to the lower Pend Oreille River,” Ryan explained. “We are studying the genetic structure, demographics, and behavior of these populations through field studies and simulation modeling to inform how best to protect and enhance these native fish species. On any given day, I could be focused on project planning, coordination with our Boundary fisheries biologists, data analysis, contract administration, or communication with stakeholders.”

Ryan was born and raised in Olympia and has spent most of his adult life working in the streams and forests of the Northwest. He attended Western Washington University and pursued his graduate studies at the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. “During grad school, I spent summers at a remote field station on the Alaska Peninsula studying the early life history and ecology of sockeye salmon,” Ryan shared. “I remember most vividly the rough weather, the rewarding work, the bear encounters and the isolation.”

In this week’s (spot)Light, Ryan talks about his hobbies, family and work at City Light.


“I live on Vashon Island with my wife and four kids. The island offers a great network of trails and natural areas to explore, and we try to spend as much time as we can discovering new areas. The beaches are also a highlight, whether for a summer picnic or a good winter storm. We enjoy growing food and flowers and have gotten to know some great families with whom we have built community.”

“I’m an avid skier, sailor, and enjoy most water sports! My time is devoted to my family… getting the kids outside and interested in the natural world and the sciences. I also enjoy woodworking and building furniture, an interest I picked up from my dad. During this time of year, I like to pick apples and press cider with family and friends. We try to pick 20-30 bushels which yields about 50-60 gallons of cider. A friend and I ferment hard cider; several of our hard ciders have placed or won in regional competitions.”

“I was attracted to City Light because of its longstanding work in some very unique watersheds, and the opportunity to devote a career to working in those systems. As a consultant, it was common to move from project to project on a regular basis. At City Light, I’ve been able to build a deeper understanding of the stream systems I work on and the positive impact of my work.”

“I enjoy what I do at City Light; it’s challenging and diverse. I continually apply my past work experience and education while learning new things along the way. Part of my job satisfaction comes from knowing the work is valued by City Light. We also have the support to investigate novel approaches to better meet project objectives. The greatest part of my job is the people I work with, who come from a diverse range of technical disciplines which has helped me better understand the utility. I feel fortunate to work with a dedicated team who genuinely believes in the work they do.”