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News and Updates from Seattle City Light

Accelerated Pole Replacement Program: July 2020 Update

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Seattle City Light continues to replace aging utility poles throughout the utility’s service area as part of the accelerated pole replacement program, which was created in 2019 to improve safety and reliability.  City Light maintains approximately 91,000 wooden poles in its service territory. After an investigation following an April 2019 incident that resulted in the failure of 26 poles, City Light committed to more quickly replacing poles to address a backlog of approximately 6,000 poles deemed in need of replacement or reinforcement. Given availability of resources (materials, crews, contractors, funding), the utility aims to replace 1,000-2,000 poles annually over the next several years, depending on available resources and budget constraints due to the COVID-19 response.

Since the inception of the accelerated pole replacement program, 883 wood poles have been replaced by City Light crews and contractors. 781 of those poles were replaced in 2020.

In March, in response to the COVD-19 pandemic and Governor Inslee’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order, the City of Seattle prioritized essential services only and most City Light employees were sent to work from home. Planned outages were also temporarily paused to avoid impacts to customers working and learning from home. Despite these limitations, City Light continued to conduct work under the pole replacement program with a limited number of internal crews and contractors. New poles were placed adjacent to poles in need of replacement, and equipment transfers were halted until planned outages could be scheduled again. Over 150 wood poles were safely installed and secured between late April and early June.

City Light announced the resumption of planned outages on June 8. As a result, contractors are returning to complete the final equipment transfers on the new poles that were installed this past spring. This work is in progress.

The utility plans to replace 1,500 utility poles in 2020. City Light has completed 50% of this total so far.

To learn more about the Accelerated Pole Replacement Program, please visit powerlines.seattle.gov/poles.

Seattle City (spot)Light: Greg St. Peter

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Greg St. Peter has been with Seattle City Light for five years. He is a part of the Communications and Marketing team as the graphic designer. “My role as the only in-house graphic designer is to support all aspects of visual information both internal and customer-facing, via print as well as digital media.”

Greg grew up in Poulsbo and still lives in the area currently. “My favorite thing about this area is the location: not too far from the city, mountains, ocean… Everything is accessible,”  Greg shared. He studied fine arts at Western Washington University, where he focused on graphic design.

In this week’s (spot)Light, Greg talks about his unique role at City Light, his passion for soccer and what he loves most about City Light.

InWeb NetWork Greg StPeter Spotlight

“The unique role as the only in-house graphic designer at the utility led me to City Light. The environmental emphasis and being part of an organization that is very customer-focused is what really attracted me most to the utility.”

“My favorite hobby is coaching soccer. I have too many injuries to keep playing myself, but coaching is the next best thing. I’ve been doing so for about 20 years and am the current coach for both the boys and girls’ programs at North Kitsap High School and also I serve as the Coaching Director for a local club team.”

“The large variety of projects, the people, and the culture are what I love most about working for City Light. Working for a utility in my field is fairly rare and being in this position to work for the public makes it even more fulfilling.”

Seattle City Light Joins West Coast Electric Utilities in Mapping Out Electric Truck Charging Sites Along I-5

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West Coast Clean Transit Corridor would create jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from freight transportation, help eliminate health-harming diesel emissions from trucks.

Seattle City Light joins electric utilities in three West Coast states to announce the results of a study that could lead to significant reductions of pollution from freight transportation up and down the Pacific Coast and create jobs in an economy hit hard by the novel coronavirus.

The West Coast Clean Transit Corridor Initiative, a study commissioned by an unprecedented collaboration among nine electric utilities and two agencies representing more than two dozen municipal utilities, recommends adding electric vehicle charging for freight haulers and delivery trucks at 50-mile intervals along Interstate 5 and adjoining highways.

“As Seattle City Light highlighted in our 2019 transportation electrification strategic analysis, preparing for medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicle adoption is a key area where utility intervention can have pivotal impact,” said Emeka Anyanwu, Seattle City Light’s Energy Innovation and Resources Director. “We’re excited to partner with our utility colleagues across the West and other stakeholders to evaluate and articulate solutions to speed the transition to electric transportation along the I-5 corridor. This will be a necessary component of a meaningful response to the overall climate crisis as well as the direct and disparate impacts of pollution on the communities living along these highways.”

Other initiative sponsors of the study are Southern California Edison, Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, Northern California Power Agency, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Pacific Power, Portland General Electric, Puget Sound Energy, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Public Power Authority. HDR completed the study.

The study’s final report, published today, proposes a phased approach for electrifying the I-5 corridor. The first phase would involve installing 27 charging sites along I-5 at 50-mile intervals for medium-duty electric vehicles, such as delivery vans, by 2025. Then, later, 14 of the 27 charging sites would be expanded to also accommodate charging for electric big rigs by 2030, when it is estimated that 8% of all trucks on the road in California could be electric.

Of the 27 proposed sites, 16 are in California, five are in Oregon and six are in Washington. An additional 41 sites on other highways that connect to I-5 are being proposed for electrification. Those highways include Interstates 8, 10, 80, 210 and 710 and state routes 60 and 99 in California; I-84 in Oregon and I-90 in Washington.

The report recommends expanding state, federal or private programs that provide funding for electrification, which could further accelerate electric truck adoption and expand economic opportunities associated with building sites.

In 2019, the Washington state legislature passed House Bill 1512, enabling electric utilities to incorporate transportation electrification into utility modernization. City Light, along with City of Seattle leadership and departments, has already been moving toward that envisioned future with the Drive Clean Seattle Initiative and the Green New Deal. City Light has conducted in-depth transportation electrification analysis, is piloting public and residential EV charging, partnering with regional public transit agencies, and is launching time-of-day electricity rates to better understand potential impacts of this growing market.

Other key findings in the report are:

  • Most utilities in California, Oregon and Washington have enough capacity in urban areas along I-5 to support interconnections with the medium-duty charging sites. Rural areas are more of a challenge and none of the rural areas currently have capacity to serve heavy-duty site development.
  • Stakeholders, including utilities, must begin proactive engagement to accommodate long lead times (multiple years in most cases) for system planning and site development.
  • Clean fuel policies in West Coast states continue to drive transportation electrification in the near term and additional state, federal and private programs that provide funding for electrification could further accelerate electric truck adoption.
  • Utilities should serve as trusted infrastructure providers that can be leveraged to collaborate across a broad range of industry stakeholders, educate customers, help standardize systems of charging equipment for trucks and ensure safe deployment of charging sites.
  • Fleet operators surveyed as part of the study identified that access to public charging would accelerate deployment of electric vehicles because their trucks could use public sites to support their operations.

In Washington, the transportation sector accounts for the largest source of air pollution and more than 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions[1]. In the Seattle area, road transportation made up two thirds, or 66%, of core emissions in 2014[2]. Data shows that people who live near truck-traffic corridors experience higher rates of asthma, lung and heart disease and chronic bronchitis due largely to breathing toxic vehicle emissions, specifically diesel particulate matter. A recent study from Harvard researchers also indicates that increases in particulate pollution is associated with higher death rates among COVID-19 patients.

“We know relying on our clean fuel to electrify transportation reduces emissions and pollution to the benefit of the climate and the communities disproportionally impacted due to proximity to high-traffic freight corridors,” said Anyanwu. “We also believe investments in transportation electrification infrastructure can be a catalyst for economic development and job opportunities desperately needed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. City Light and our partners are well positioned to quickly capitalize on those opportunities.”

[1] Washington State Department of Ecology. 2018. “Washington State Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory: 1990-2015. Report to the Legislature”. Publication 18-02-043. https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/documents/1802043.pdf

[2] City of Seattle, Office of Mayor Jenny Durkan. 2018. “Seattle Climate Action Plan”. http://greenspace.seattle.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SeaClimateAction_April2018.pdf

Seattle City (spot)Light: Chau Ly

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Chau Ly has been a committed City Light employee for thirteen years. As a Senior Customer Service Representative in the Credit and Collection departments, Chau plays a vital role in solving customer inquiries or problems and improving strategies and procedures.

Originally from outside of Washington, Chau shares that she was “brought to the area for opportunities to earn a greater living within a diverse cultural lifestyle.” Currently Chau enjoys living on the boarder of Seattle and Renton where she “loves the diversity of both cities.”

In this weeks (spot)Light Chau talks about her passion for dancing, more about her work, and her involvement at Seattle City Light.

InWeb NetWork Chau Ly Spotlight

“My favorite activity is ballroom dancing- and I rarely have time for that because I am a busy bee who likes to throw big family gatherings as well as being a mother to my three wonderful kids. However, turn on any upbeat music and that will usually do the trick in getting me to dance to the beat!”

“My background is in accounting and I transitioned from Bank of America initially to Seattle City Light. The main attraction to City Light was the range of different departments and the growth opportunities that are supported by continual employee development and education.”

“What I love most about working at City Light is that management is approachable and encourage an open-door policy. Also, that there are plenty of opportunities to transition to new and exciting opportunities within the utility. I am very thankful to have a flexible supervisor and an amazing manager who support me daily, recognize my talents and kindly suggest ways for improving professionally.”

Seattle City (spot)Light: Jeff Fisher

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Jeff Fisher will celebrate his one-year anniversary working for City Light in July. “My official title is senior aquatic ecologist and strategic advisor,” Jeff explained. “My job is a bit of a meld of straight technical fisheries and water quality work with policy support focused on broader Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Clean Water Act issues that could affect the utility’s operations.”

Jeff’s father served in the Navy Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps in Hawaii. After his resignation, their family moved to Seattle in 1966. “I am essentially from Washington, though I have lived in many different states and a few different countries.” He currently lives in Olympia with his wife and two teenage sons. “Having grown up in Magnolia, I was ready for a change- and more affordable real estate, so we moved (to Olympia) in 2000.”

In this week’s (spot)Light, Jeff talks about finding City Light, his unique hobbies, and more about his work at the utility.

“I went to the University of Washington where I received my B.S. in fisheries biology, went on to get my master’s in aquatic pathobiology from Stirling University in Stirling, Scotland and earned my Ph. D in environmental toxicology from Cornell. I actually saw the position for City Light posted when I was living overseas in Ireland and working at Ireland’s Marine Institute. Given my background with ESA policy, the desire to get back and do more on the ground research, some family desires to return to the U.S., and my connection to the Skagit basin from early childhood, it seemed like a really good fit.”

“What’s nice about Olympia is the proximity to Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains and the less crowded portions of the Cascades. Also, as an aquatic scientist who wanted to find a way to ‘keep my feet wet,’ I had the desire to find property where I might start a shellfish farm—which I did back in 2006. Some of my other hobbies include playing a bit of guitar, making wine, and I love to ski, fish and kayak- hanging out with my family is right up there too.”

“Much of the policy-focused work I do is related to regulatory actions on the Columbia River that may affect some of our operations. On the Skagit, my work is primarily focused on supporting the ongoing relicensing effort as part of the ‘Fish and Aquatic’ team, and I am particularly focused on reservoir related research that includes furthering an ongoing study with Bull Trout to better understand their movements and behaviors within the Skagit reservoirs.”

“The Environment, Land and Licensing business unit is very deep with talent and experienced scientists and managers—several of whom I have known for many years. There seems to be an expert in just about every relevant discipline, so it makes for a very collegial environment. It doesn’t hurt that the field work I do on occasion happens to be in one of the most scenic environments in the country, if not the world.”

Seattle City Light Resumes Planned Outages on June 8

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Seattle City Light remains committed to providing safe and reliable power while prioritizing the safety of our customers and crews. Our service is an essential need and its reliability is a top priority.

In April, as our community was observing Governor Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order, City Light voluntarily paused all work that required an outage to minimize service disruptions to our customers.

Now, as we turn our attention to reopening and recovery, it’s critical that we resume essential critical infrastructure work to improve electrical reliability and ensure the safety of our infrastructure. Beginning June 8, we will resume critical work that requires planned outages.

Why Outages are Necessary

Planned power outages are important to maintaining and upgrading our infrastructure. Planned outages are necessary to ensure that City Light crews can complete their work in a safe, efficient manner. We understand that outages can be burdensome, and even more so as our customers are at home working, teaching children, and maintaining a healthy life during the COVID-19 crisis.

Planned outages are scheduled for a variety of reasons. Depending on the type of work, outages can occur during the day, at night or on the weekends. Our approach to scheduling planned outages is consistent throughout our service area. Safety, reliability and customer needs are considered as employees plan and schedule any outage-related work.

What Impacted Customers Should Expect

If a planned outage will be taking place in your neighborhood, you can expect to receive a notification at least five days ahead of the planned outage. The notification will be a door hanger, notice letter, or possibly an email for residential customers who live in an apartment complex or condominium building. The notification will contain detailed information about the planned outage, including the date, time, and anticipated duration of the outage. If an outage is cancelled or rescheduled (due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances), customers can expect to be notified about the change.

At this time, work will be moving forward for City Light’s Accelerated Pole Replacement Program. Crews are replacing aging utility poles throughout the utility’s service area to enhance safety and electrical reliability. For more information about this essential work and answers to frequently asked questions, please visit powerlines.seattle.gov/poles. Additional capital improvement projects and construction activities, including joint use work (e.g., telecommunications companies installing and maintaining equipment on our poles), will resume as work continues to restart across our service area.

To learn more about how you can prepare for an outage, please visit powerlines.seattle.gov/outage.

Additional Safety Measures

All City Light crews and contractors will continue to follow public health guidance around daily health screening procedures, social distancing and appropriate personal protective equipment, including facial coverings. Please be aware that due to the nature of our work maintaining the electrical system, some essential tasks require crew members to work closely together for their safety. So, if you see lineworkers working side by side, please know they’re doing it for good reason and are minimizing close proximity as much as they can to safely complete the job. And please do your part by keeping a safe distance – always a good idea when it comes to working with electricity, whether we’re avoiding a virus or not.

We will continue to update customers about ongoing work. We appreciate your patience as we work to improve the electrical infrastructure and enhance the safety of your neighborhood by completing this essential work.

Seattle City (spot)Light: John LeCompte

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John LeCompte has been with City Light for twelve and a half years. After spending nine years providing energy efficiency incentives for commercial and industrial customers, and the next two years working on emerging technologies, John was recently reassigned to the newly-formed Electrification and Strategic Technology Division. “We are focusing on bringing new technologies to City Light and its customer-owners with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and modernizing our grid so we can offer more sustainable, reliable, equitable and customer-centric services.” 

Originally from Seattle, John has also lived in Eastern Washington, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Vermont and Boston. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from UW and a master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University.  He is a licensed professional engineer, and holds certifications as a Certified Energy Manager, Certified Building Commissioning Professional, and Certified Measurement & Verification Professional.

In this week’s (spot)Light, John talks about his hobbies, his new work, and what he loves about City Light.

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“I currently live in West Seattle and I love the combination of a densifying suburb and sleepy semi-isolated neighborhood (more so now with the bridge issues), while all being within biking distance to work. I started practicing karate in 1983 and currently hold a 7th degree black belt in a peaceful, traditional Okinawan karate school- it really helps me frame life’s challenges as opportunities to grow my perspective and abilities. I also love Ultimate frisbee–a fantastic way to get a solid aerobic workout with good spirit, as well as rock climbing when I have the time!”

“I have worked in several areas of engineering and construction, having owned my own engineering company at one point, but City Light offered me the opportunity to give back to my home city. Most recently, my team has joined several other City Light employees in the Utility Next effort, a very focused mission to propose projects to get the economy rolling again in the aftermath of COVID-19. It’s very exciting, but all-consuming! In parallel to this work, I’m also serving as a shop steward to the members of PROTEC17, the largest union of City employees, where I am involved in efforts to improve employee morale and organization effectiveness through a collaborative approach. I feel I’m part of meaningful work in both of these roles, and I am honored to be working with teams of dedicated professionals working to help our city.”

“City Light offers the chance to be a part of significant work to rein in climate change, and I love that I can be a part of that alongside others who want to make a difference. Right now, I feel extremely lucky as a City employee to have continuity of work and income in this time of historic unemployment. We are able to use our position as a utility to prop up other struggling industries and people and this simple fact makes me feel grateful to City Light and responsible to my fellow Seattleites.”

Seattle City (spot)Light: Gina Baxter

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Gina Baxter is a Senior Analyst in City Light’s Financial Planning Unit. She’s lived in the greater Seattle area her entire life, and currently resides in Gig Harbor with her husband.

Gina had 13 years of experience in the utility industry prior to joining City Light, and she always wanted to work for a public utility. In February 2019, she made that happen when she joined the City Light team. Since then, she has been working on the utility’s financial forecast, conducting financial analyses to support strategic planning, capital financing, utility fees, and electric rates.

In this week’s Seattle City (spot)Light, Gina talks about her hobbies, why she was attracted to City Light and her team.

City Light’s Gina Baxter with her husband and dog.

“My favorite activity is attending a variety of concerts. My first few jobs, prior to starting my career, were working at local recording and post-production studios in the Seattle area. I still have a strong interest in the music industry and supporting artists at all levels. My other interests vary significantly, but also include listening to podcasts, reading, creating terrariums, volunteering, and walking our dog around the neighborhood.”

“Throughout my career, I’ve worked with utilities in specialized areas of work and studies, but I’ve always had a desire to work at a public utility where there is a connection to the local community and a mission to serve the public. I became interested in becoming a part of the team at City Light due to it being an organization that values environmental stewardship, innovation, diversity/equity, and excellence.”

“There are a lot of talented individuals at City Light that go above and beyond, work collaboratively with others, and are continuously striving for excellence. City Light offers great work-life balance and opportunities for growth. I couldn’t have found a better team!”

Seattle City (spot)Light: Brian Hempel

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Brian Hempel joined Seattle City Light in February 2020—just in time to get acquainted with his office space before the COVID-19 response mandated social distancing and he began to work from home. Born and raised in Southern California, he also lived in Buffalo, New York, before returning to SoCal and finding his way to the Pacific Northwest.

As the Safety & Technical Training Coordinator for City Light’s Workforce Development team, he ensures training standards meet or exceed compliance and verifies the accuracy of training information. In this week’s Seattle City (spot)Light, he talks about the journey that brought him to City Light, his educational background and life as a single father.

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Brian Hempel with his daughters, Brooke and Mackenzie.

“I was really attracted to City Light because of its commitment to providing clean, green energy. I worked for a larger company in the energy industry prior to this, and you can tell that the only thing that mattered was their earnings sheet. Here at City Light, you can tell that the customers and company culture is important to everyone.”

“I am a bit of a non-traditional learner. I joined the United States Marine Corps on the day of my 18th birthday and was in the Marines from 1999-2003. After my enlistment, I became a police officer in Southern California and was in law enforcement for approximately 6 years. I attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale for my Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Workforce Education and Development, graduating in 2012 and 2014 respectfully. In 2019, I completed a Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership from the University of Oxford, and I am currently a PhD Candidate at California Baptist University studying ‘Leadership in East African Conflict Zones’.”

“My favorite activity is getting to travel with my daughters Mackenzie (12) and Brooke (10). We have a goal to visit all 50 states by the time Brooke turns 12, and as of today we have been to 45 states with just Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and West Virginia left on our list. I also enjoy watching my daughters play their respective sports. Mackenzie plays club volleyball and, in the fall, will start her fifth year. Brooke plays soccer and has been playing for six years. It is fun to watch them develop and get better in their sport as the years go by.” “Between work, raising two daughters, and grad school, personal hobbies are at a minimum, but I do enjoy playing golf, cycling, and fishing. Being new to the area, I’ve got a lot of exploring to do this summer.”

Support for Small Business & Non-Profit City Light Customers Impacted by COVID-19

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We understand that COVID-19 and Governor Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order have impacted our small business and non-profit customers in unprecedented ways. Seattle City Light is here to help by making our resources for small and medium business customers easier to access. You can now sign up for bill deferral and/or a virtual energy assessment via an online form.

Click here to access Small Business Support!

Bill Deferral
In addition to waiving late fees and suspending any disconnections during the emergency order, we are also offering flexible payment plans to help you with your electricity bill.

When setting up a payment plan, you will be asked how much you can pay today and how you would like to pay the remaining balance—either spread out over several installments or one deferred payment within 90 days.

If you are on autopay, be sure to turn it off when signing up for a payment plan. If you don’t update it, you will be charged the full amount when the automatic payment is scheduled to be made.

Free Virtual Energy Assessment
Social distancing has changed everything about how and when we use energy, and we want you to have all the information you need on how to keep your electricity bill as low as possible.

We are launching a new service to conduct a virtual “walk-through” of your business, evaluate your energy use, and identify zero-cost energy savings tips you can do to save money on your bill today. Additionally, our energy management analysts will recommend longer-term energy upgrades and connect you with available rebates or financial incentives.

Eligibility
Bill deferral is available for all commercial customers.

The free virtual energy assessment is available to commercial customers on the small or medium general service rate up to 200 kW, excluding multifamily buildings and national franchises and chains. Case-by-case exceptions will be made for locally-owned businesses with less than 100 employees.

Click on the link above to get started. You’ll want to have your 10-digit Seattle City Light account number—you can find it on your bill. You can always get in touch with our business customer service advisors directly at (206) 256-5200 or at SCL_BusinessServices@seattle.gov. If you would like translation into a language other than English on the phone, say the language you need (e.g., “Spanish, please!” or “Vietnamese, please!”) when the advisor answers, and they will connect you to a translator.

Important! Have you closed your business and need to permanently cancel your service? You must close your City Light account, or you will continue to receive bills. Please contact business customer service advisors directly at (206) 256-5200 or at SCL_BusinessServices@seattle.gov.

Other COVID-19 Resources for your business and your employees
Check out these recent blog posts with information for your business and your employees.

From Seattle & Washington State:
• Office of Economic Development – Small Business Stabilization Fund
• City of Seattle – Small Business & Non-Profit Support
• City of Seattle’s #SupportSeattleSmallBiz Map
• City of Seattle Resources (all)
• Office of the Governor Resources