City Light crews have restored power to all affected Laurelhurst/Windermere/Ravenna customers as of approximately 12:45 a.m. The outage had started at 11 p.m. last night and originally affected 5,300 customers. The cause was a failed underground cable.
Power Outage Affecting 5,300 Customers in Parts of Laurelhurst, Windermere, and Ravenna
Seattle City Light crews are working to restore power to about 5,300 customers in parts of Laurelhurst, Windermere, and Ravenna. The outage started at 11 p.m. and its cause is currently unknown. An early estimate for restoration, based on historical data, is 2 a.m. Monday, January 22. Customers can get updated outage information at www.seattle.gov/light/sysstat.
City Light Completes Infrastructure Investment at Webster Point
Seattle City Light and its contractor have completed a major milestone in the utility’s plans to improve the capacity, technology, and reliability of the electrical system in the Webster Point neighborhood of Laurelhurst.
KC Equipment has recently completed the installation of underground conduits, vaults, and equipment in order to replace outdated 4kV (4,000 volt) electrical equipment with updated 26kV (26,000 volt) infrastructure. Sidewalks, driveways, planting strips, and street panels affected by the work have been restored. A map showing the construction area and representative during and after photos are shown below.
The current 4kV cable is buried directly in the ground. The high capacity 26 kV cable will be protected by the installed conduit and vaults for greater reliability. The new 26kV electrical system will also have more switching points resulting in shorter outages with fewer customers affected when maintenance is required.
The infrastructure phase of the project was started in March of 2015 and completed earlier in May, 2016. The higher-capacity 26kV cable will be pulled in at a later date. Seattle City Light appreciates the patience of its customers during the successful completion of this important part of the project.
Webster Point Work Location
Typical view during construction: Conduits under sidewalk
Typical after: sidewalk restored
To learn more about Seattle City Light’s investments in infrastructure, visit our Construction Website.
City Light Crews Have Restored Power in NE Seattle
Seattle City Light crews have restored power to the 5,600 customers originally affected by an outage in northeast Seattle.
The outage started around 10 a.m. and was restored prior to noon. The cause is still being determined.
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.
Burien back, outage down to 200-plus
Power outage that began this morning at 10 has been resolved for most customers in Burien, South Park and areas of south Seattle. A small area of Rainier Valley and New Holly remains out, affecting around 240 customers. Could be 5-6 hours to restore as crews have to bring in new equipment.
Cause of Burien outage was equipment failure triggered by a seagull in wires.
Laurelhurst remains out at about 163 customers affected. Crews will have to widen outage to make repairs.
Outage updates online at www.seattle.gov/light/systat.
Power Restored for UW Area
Seattle City Light repair crews restored power Wednesday morning to the final 245 customers affected by the failure of splices on two underground, main stem power lines near University Bridge.
The power outage started Tuesday about 5:30 a.m. and initially affected about 2,000 customers in the U District, Ravenna and Laurelhurst. Crews isolated the damage and restored most customers by about 8:30 a.m.
To restore service for the remaining buildings within the general boundaries of NE Campus Drive on the north, Lake Washington on the south, Eastlake Avenue on the west and 15th Avenue NE on the east, crews replaced both cables damaged by the splice failures. Work was completed about 5 a.m. Wednesday.
UW Power Outage Down to 245 Buildings
Seattle City Light crews continue working to restore service to 245 buildings on the University of Washington campus that remain without power.
The outage started about 5:30 a.m. and initially affected about 2,000 homes and businesses in Ravenna and Laurelhurst in addition to parts of the university campus.
Repair crews have found failed splices in two underground, main stem feeder lines that provide power to the area. Crews might not be able to resplice the cables, which would require replacement of the cables. That work could take eight to 12 hours, which would put the estimate for restoration of service for sometime between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.
The general boundaries of the outage are NE campus Parkway on the north, Lake Washington on the south, Eastlake Avenue NE on the west and 15th Avenue NE on the east. Not all buildings within that area are affected.
Updates are available from our online system status map at www.seattle.gov/light/sysstat
Laurelhurst Community Meeting Planned for December 8
Seattle City Light is hosting a community meeting this Thursday evening, Dec. 8, where south Laurelhurst residents can learn about a project that will upgrade their underground electrical service.
Old 4,000 volt electrical cable will be replaced with 26,000 volt cable improving capacity and reliability. The boundaries for this phase of the Laurelhurst modernization are NE 38th Street on the north, NE 33rd Street on the south, E. Laurelhurst Drive NE on the east and 43rd Avenue NE on the west.
All affected customers have been mailed an invitation to the meeting. The meeting is scheduled from Thursday, December 8; 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.; Laurelhurst Community Center, 4554 NE 41st Street, Seattle.
If you have questions contact Seattle City Light’s Mark VanOss, Sr. Public Relations Specialist at (206) 684-3279 or mark.vanoss@seattle.gov. Additional information can be found here: http://seattle.gov/light/aboutus/construction/release.asp?RN=254
Equipment Upgrades Underway at Laurelhurst Substation
Seattle City Light is making several upgrades to the equipment at its Laurelhurst Substation throughout May.
City Light is replacing and up-grading old 4 kilovolt power lines with 26 kilovolt lines that are standard equipment for most of the utility’s distribution system. As a part of this work, crews will replace three auxiliary transformers known to contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) with new transformers that do not use PCBs.
“This work will improve the reliability of our distribution system in northeast Seattle and eliminate the risk of PCBs entering the environment,” Superintendent Jorge Carrasco said. “Our customers deserve low-cost, reliable, environmentally sensitive electricity and this project accomplishes that.”
No customer outages are planned as part of this work. There will be trucks and other vehicles on site and in the street adjacent to the substation, 4502 NE 41st St., throughout the duration of these replacements. City Light estimates it will take about 10 days beginning May 17.
PCBs are man-made compounds that were used extensively in hundreds of commercial and industrial applications due to their non-flammability, chemical stability, high boiling point, and electrical insulating properties.
Their manufacture was banned in 1979 because it has been shown that direct exposure can cause cancer and a variety of other adverse health effects on the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system and endocrine system. City Light has a goal to remove any remaining PCB transformers in our system by the end of 2010. For more information on PCBs, visit http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/tsd/pcbs/pubs/about.htm.
The PCB transformers being removed from the substation will be secured in containers on site, and then moved to another facility for safe removal of the chemicals and proper disposal. Employees working directly with these transformers and their housings will be wearing hazardous material (haz mat) suits to guard against exposure. Seattle City Light workers have considerable experience with transformer removal and have extensive training in the safe handling of these materials. The transformers will remain sealed throughout the removal process.
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.
Cable Failure Apparent Cause of Power Outage in Ravenna, Wedgwood, Hawthorne Hills, Laurelhurst
A failed underground cable is the apparent cause of a power outage affecting about 3,300 customers in Ravenna, Wedgwood, Hawthorne Hills and Laurelhurst.
The outage was reported about 5:45 p.m. A repair crew was immediately dispatched, but an estimate for restoration of service was not immediately known.
The general boundaries of the outage were NE 60th Street on the North, NE 35th Street on the South, 9th Avenue NE on the West and 53rd Avenue NE on the East. Not all homes and businesses within those general boundaries were affected.
