Seattle City Light is preparing for the possibility of power outages due to the weather forecast, which is expected to bring strong winds to the Puget Sound area this afternoon.

This morning the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory, which is in effect until 9 p.m., predicting sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph, gusting up to 50 mph.

“A storm like this could cause power outages particularly since the ground is saturated and trees could fall into our lines,” City Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco said in a statement. “Our crews are ready to respond and restore service as quickly as possible, but it is always important for all of us to be prepared.”

In preparation for potential outages, City Light advises residents to put together an emergency preparedness kit. From City Light:

A kit should include enough food and supplies to last your family for at least three days, hand-crank or battery-operated flashlight and radio, fresh batteries, a survival blanket, a first aid kit, pocket tissues and hand sanitizer wipes. For a checklist and other tips go to www.takewinterbystorm.org .

City Light also sends the following safety reminder in the event of power outages and downed lines:

• Do not go near any downed wire. Wires should always be assumed to be “live” and dangerous. If someone seeks a downed wire, they should call (206) 684-7400;
• Do not use a barbecue grill or generator inside the house or in a garage that is attached to the house. Do not use a grill or generator near a home air intake vent or near windows;
• Do not use fossil fuel burning auxiliary heating sources;
• Know how to manually override electric garage doors, security doors and gates;
• Have a land line phone or fully charged cell phone available — cordless phones won’t work when the power is out;
• Unplug electrical appliances if the power goes out so that when the power comes back on, there won’t be a surge that could damage sensitive electronic equipment;
• Use battery-powered flashlights – not candles or oil lamps;
• Close doors, windows, curtains, and unused fireplace dampers to retain heat if there is an outage.

Last week Seattle City Light announced a new plan to tackle the cause of Queen Anne’s frequent power outages and prevent future blackouts: injecting the neighborhood’s aging  underground cables with silicone. City Light is holding a meeting tonight, Wednesday, May 26 at 6:30 p.m. (at the Queen Anne Community Center, Room 3, located at 1901 1st Ave W.) to brief residents on the project, what the work will entail, and answer any questions or concerns.

Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell sent out this message to community members this week encouraging participation in tonight’s meeting:

Beginning this June, Seattle City Light will begin a 10-week underground cable injection project on Queen Anne that will increase reliability of electrical service and add 25 years of life to aging underground cables.  City Light is working with a company called Novinium to inject the aging underground cables with silicone.  The process fills cracks that have developed in the cable insulation that can lead to power failures.  The project is planned to begin in mid-June and is estimated to last about 10 weeks.  On a typical day, crews will work between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.  Cables determined to be beyond repair will have to be replaced and customers will be notified at least one week in advance of any planned outages which may be necessary to replace the cable.

The silicone injection process is a great alternative to digging up and replacing old cables because it will cost less and be less disruptive to the neighborhood while extending the life of the existing cables. The process has been successfully applied to projects in Leschi, View Ridge, Laurelhurst and Arroyo Beach. When we can employ methods that enhance reliability, cost less and minimize disruption to customers, it is a step in the right direction.

After all of the blackouts in Queen Anne over the last year, the neighborhood is about to experience a summer sprinkled with a few more planned power outages. Seattle City Light announced today plans to spend ten weeks over the summer working to extend the life of Queen Anne’s old underground cables by 25 years. How? By injecting the cables with silicone, a process City Light and a company called Novinium say will fill cracks that develop in the protective insulation of the cables as they age, leading to cable failures and power outages.

“Silicone injection is a cost-effective way to increase the reliability of service for our customers while limiting the need to dig up and replace the old cables,” Superintendent Jorge Carrasco said in a press release today. “We are using this process successfully throughout our service territory, including recent projects in Leschi, View Ridge, Laurelhurst and Arroyo Beach.”

City Light plans to begin to project mid-June and says the schedule will involve a number of planned outages.

Crews first test the cables to determine if the injection process can work. If the cable condition is satisfactory, crews come back later to inject the silicone into the lines. Cables found to be in such poor condition that injection will not work, will be replaced.

Residents and businesses that will be affected by the planned outages will be notified at least one week in advance. City Light says almost all of the work will take place between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

City Light will be hosting a community meeting concerning the project on Wednesday, May 26 at the Queen Anne Community Center, Room 3, located at 1901 1st Ave W. Residents are invited to attend and voice any questions or concerns. In the meantime, you can keep track of planned and ongoing City Light construction projects here, or contact Mark Vanoss at (206) 684-3279 or mark.vanoss@seattle.gov.

Residents who live in Lower Queen Anne may be affected by a couple of upcoming planned power outages in the area. Seattle City Light has scheduled two power outages in order to repair damage from the outage on the Seattle Center campus last month, the first of which will be held on this coming Thursday, April 22 from 12 to 7 a.m. No date has been set yet for the second power outage yet, though according to Seattle City Light, it is planned for sometime in mid to late May.

The primary feed line has been out of service since the March outage, and so the Seattle Center campus has been running on the secondary (back-up) feed. These two planned outages will promote the replacement of one of the aging primary feed lines.  Two outages have been planned because of the size and scope of the issue.

The affected outage area will be within the following borders: Mercer Street to the north; Denny Way to the south;  5th Avenue N to the east; and 1st Avenue N to the west.

Residents within this boundary, but outside of the Seattle Center campus, who may be affected by the planned outages should have received notification letters from Seattle City Light. Seattle Center will be providing temporary exterior lighting on seven on-campus locations during the outage “to provide some level of light and safety,” according to a notice from Seattle City Light.

For more information or to address questions and concerns, contact Seattle City Light Communications and Public Affairs representative Mark VanOss at (206) 684-3279.

Yesterday the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for the Puget Sound area, and more rain and wind is expected to arrive late on Wednesday to early Thursday morning. In preparation of the coming winter weather, Seattle City Light has sent out reminders to residents on how to best prepare for the possibility of power outages. And given that the wind caused one of the recent power outages on Queen Anne, these tips might come in handy.

City Light encourages residents to assemble “preparedness kits” including enough food and supplies to last a family three days, a hand-crank or battery-operated flashlight and radio, fresh batteries, a survival blanket, a first aid kit, tissues and hand sanitizer. See a kit checklist here, at takewinterbystorm.org.

“Our crews are ready so that if either of these storms causes any outages, we can restore power as quickly as possible,” Superintendent Jorge Carrasco said in a press release yesterday. “Even so, we want our customers to be prepared in the event of an outage.”

If you do experience a power outage, City Light says you should:

• Make sure not go near any downed wire. Wires should always be assumed to be “live” and dangerous. If someone seeks a downed wire, they should call (206) 706-0051;
• Not use a barbecue grill or generator inside the house or in a garage that is attached to the house. Do not use a grill or generator near a home air intake vent or near windows;
• Not use fossil fuel burning auxiliary heating sources;
• Know how to manually override electric garage doors, security doors and gates;
• Have a land line phone or fully charged cell phone available – cordless phones won’t work when the power is out;
• Unplug electrical appliances if the power goes out so that when the power comes back on, there won’t be a surge that could damage sensitive electronic equipment;
• Use battery-powered flashlights – not candles or oil lamps;
• Close doors, windows, curtains, and unused fireplace dampers to retain heat if there is an outage.

Queen Anne has had a long string of blackouts due to underground cable failures over the last couple of months. And with last week’s outage, came the announcement that City Council approved a 13.8 percent City Light rate increase to start in January 2010.

Seattle City Light says power is fully restored to Seattle Center and those between Queen Anne Ave. N, Taylor Ave. N, Denny Way and Mercer St. who lost power in the two outages this morning. The first outage, at about 5 a.m. this morning, left 6,800 without power on the hill due to a failed underground vault. The second outage occurred at 11 a.m. Unable to fix this problem, City Light shut off power this afternoon to handle the repairs, affecting the Seattle Center Grounds, 50-70 businesses nearby and two apartment buildings. Everyone should have their power back now.

If you can believe it, we have had another power outage in Queen Anne today. After power was restored to the majority of 6,656 residents affected by the blackout this morning – there are still 156 people between Mercer St. to the north, Denny Way to the south, Taylor Ave N. to the east and 1st Ave S. to the west waiting to have their power back – there was a second outage at 11 a.m. that knocked out power to another 340 people.

The most up-to-date information from Seattle City Light says that both outages are again attributed to “underground cable failure.” They had estimated to reroute and restore power to those affected by this second outage by 2 p.m., but clearly that time has come and gone.

Eager for more information, I called Seattle City Light to speak to a representative, who informed me that there are, in fact, around 500 people between the two outages still without power. He said Seattle City Light hopes to get power back to the first 156 customers who have been without power since around 5 a.m. this morning (this applies to the area between Mercer St. to the north, Denny Way to the south, Taylor Ave N. to the east and 1st Ave S. to the west) by 8:40 p.m. tonight. So if you’re at work right now, you might want to plan to go out for dinner, and remember to set your alarm on your cell phone in the morning in case power goes out again.

There is still no estimated restoration time for the second outage group, an estimated 336 people who lost their power at 11 a.m., due to the difficult nature of the repairs. “Because it is underground it’s a little more difficult to say when it’s going to be restored,” our City Light representative said. This outage is within the general boundaries of Roy Street to the north, Eagle Street to the south, Valley Street to the east and 2^nd Avenue W to the west.

Although City Light says both outages have been confined to Lower Queen Anne, many readers at the top of the hill have commented that their power went out as well. Rissy wrote,

Well, the article says lower QA, but I live on Upper QA. Way up McGraw & 6th. We had no power either. I have lived on the top of the hill since 2001 and September was the first time I remember losing power.

These power outages make three in one week, and are part of a long string of recent power problems in Queen Anne. And the timing is kind of ironic – this week City Council passed 13.8 percent rate increase for Seattle City Light that will go into effect January 1, 2010. Here’s the council press release sent out today:

Faced with the choice between raising electricity rates or incurring higher borrowing costs, financial uncertainty, and violating its own financial policies, Council opted to pass a 13.8 percent rate increase over two years that will go into effect in 2010. The increase closes a $140 million gap between City Light revenues and spending plan.

“This rate increase will help maintain City Light’s financial stability while protecting our strong bond ratings,” said Council Budget Chair Jean Godden.  “We’ve worked hard over the past eight years to put City Light on a solid financial footing – now is not the time to reverse that course. It’s a question of paying a few dollars now or a whole lot more later.”

City Light has relied heavily on selling its excess power, but the unpredictability and volatility of the current market has resulted in City Light burning through cash reserves that will be depleted by mid-2010 without a reasonable rate increase. Due to the slumping economy and decreased demand, City Light will fall well below revenue projections from selling surplus energy.

The package passed by Council includes $1 million in energy efficiency investments that the Mayor’s proposal did not include.

“Increasing energy conservation saves money in addition to reducing our carbon footprint,” explained Council President Richard Conlin. “The time of financial crisis is the exact time to conserve resources.”

The rate increase ensures that the utility will continue to provide stable service, improve our aging infrastructure and borrow money at the lowest possible interest rates. Utilities receive a bond rating based on their ability to repay what they borrow. The rating is based on cash reserves and policies that prevent shortages. By avoiding a downgrade in its bond rating City Light will save as much as $90 million over the next ten years in borrowing costs.

“Seattle City Light is our greatest public asset. It is our responsibility to maintain it as a strong public utility. We need to preserve its long-term viability,” said Councilmember Nick Licata.

While Council policy requires that City Light maintain 2.0 debt service coverage (DSC), City Light’s DSC today is about 1.3, well below the requirements set by the Council in 2004. The rate increase will push City Light’s DSC closer to 1.8. In the bond market, City Light currently has an AA- rating, which allows it to borrow cheaply. However if the utility were to go to the bond market with its current DSC, it would pay much higher borrowing costs.

“Seattle City Light ratepayers were able to enjoy decreases over the past few years because of the reserves built from selling excess power, but the environment today is completely different,” said Conlin. “It’s now time that we do what’s right to ensure that Seattle’s power remain clean and affordable well into the future.”

What do you think? If you have any more information, are outside the Seattle City Light boundaries and have still been affected by the blackout, or would like to voice your opinion on the rate increase, comment below or email us at tips@queenanneview.com.

Remember all those power outages we had in September and October? Well, things were looking good on that front; we hadn’t had an outage in Queen Anne – other than the one City Light scheduled on October 26 for repairs – in over a month. And then, just when we thought we were home free, the wind knocked some trees into some wires, and Queen Anne was struck with another outage last Thursday, November 5.

About a month ago Seattle City Light held a public meeting for Queen Anne residents to discuss the frequent outages and what they were doing to solve the problem, which included spending several weeks replacing four to six blocks of underground cable in the vicinity of 8th Ave W and W Galer that was “in need of attention.” This is supposed to be completed by the end of 2009. City Light employee Mike Eagan writes,

The planned replacement underground cable will be installed from W. Galer through the alley between 6th & 7th W. for two blocks, then down the hill (west) on W. Blaine to 10th W. There will not be any planned outages for this work, though it will be noisy and dirty and disrupt access to the alley at times.

And although the outage last week was due to weather and not the repair work, City Light will be holding another public informational meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, November 10 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Queen Anne Library to discuss this work and address any concerns community members may have.

Update 9:17: Seattle City Light reports that power has been restored in Queen Anne and Magnolia. “Cause was a tree falling into the line at W Bertona and 23rd ave W,” they wrote.

Update 9:07: Power’s back on on Blaine and Lower Queen Anne. One reader saw that same blue light our friends in Capitol Hill saw. Thatgirlkelly tweeted,

We saw a big blue explosive glow from over north east magnolia just as the last brown out gave way to the black.

Update 8:53: City Light reports that the “possible cause may be trees in the wires,” taking power away from 3,800.

Update 8:49: We just got an email from a couple on Capitol Hill who saw the power go out on Queen Anne from their apartment, and say it looked more like an explosion than a tree falling through power lines. Molly wrote,

My boyfriend and I, perched high in our apartment on Capitol Hill, saw a huge blue flash and then watched the lights go out on Queen Anne…I’m really shocked that they have called this a tree in a line…It definitely looked like some sort of explosion to us from across the way.  We hypothesized that perhaps it was a transformer that blew?   It was bright enough for us to run out onto our balcony to see what it was….doesn’t quite seem like a tree would cause that.

(Thanks to Molly for the tip!)

Update 8:45: Power’s back on at Taylor and Highland. Getting lots of “powers back” tweets. Is anyone still without?

Update 8:43: Power back on at Taylor and Lee, Jessica says.

Update 8:32 p.m.: Jessica writes, “I’m around the Taylor and Lee intersection of east Queen Anne and power has been out. Lights flickered a few times and finally went out, I think around 7:30pm.”

Update 8:21: Power’s out in parts of Magnolia too. Areas affected are reportedly south of West Ewing Street and north of Mercer Street between14 Ave W and 6th Ave N. City Light hotline says the estimated restoration time “around midnight.”

Update 8:09 p.m.: This just in from Seattle City Light: “Queen Anne outage caused by tree in line. No etr. About 3600 customers currently out.”

We’ve just heard from several readers that there’s a big power outage on Queen Anne. Still not details available at Seattle City Light. There is some possibility that the outage is related to the repair work City Light is currently doing around W. Galer to correct the issues that caused all those outages back in September, thought these work is supposed to be blackout free. City Light employee Mike Eagan commented on our story earlier today. Here’s what he said,

The planned replacement underground cable will be installed from W. Galer through the alley between 6th & 7th W. for two blocks, then down the hill (west) on W. Blaine to 10th W. There will not be any planned outages for this work, though it will be noisy and dirty and disrupt access to the alley at times.

So far there’s little information about the outage area. One reader wrote in,

We’re near Rogers park and at least our whole block is dark.

If you have any information on the outage, email us at tips@queenanneview.com or comment on this story. (Thanks to Jenna for the tip!)

A few weeks ago Seattle City Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco held a meeting for Queen Anne residents to discuss the five power outages that occurred on the hill during the month of September. I was not able to attend this meeting due to illness, and it’s taken me some time to gather the information that was covered (apologies on the delay!).

The first power outage occurred on Thursday, September 10. It was a scheduled power outage so that crews could repair and upgrade power lines in the vicinity of 8th Ave W and W McGraw, however a number of the people affected were not notified ahead of time due to a combination of clerical and human errors. The next outage was on Wednesday, September 16 and was unplanned, affecting 6,566 for just over an hour. A planned outage was scheduled on the morning of Saturday, September 26 to repair damage from the previous blackout, which led to another unplanned outage later that day, that affected 11,975 people for three and a half hours. Repairs could not be made as they required access to a vault that had energized lines, so power was re-routed to accommodate those without. The last outage occurred the next day, Sunday, September 27, knocking out power to 10,003 (approximately the same bunch affected by the outages on September 16th and 26th, though not all) in Queen Anne and Magnolia for much of the night. Some customers were out of power for as long as seven and a half hours. And again, repairs were not able to be made due to the energized vault, so power has continued to be temporarily re-routed.

So what ultimately caused the outages? Here’s what City Light had to say,

The three unplanned outages are all related to (basically) the same cause – old, deteriorated underground equipment. The underground cables are more than 30 years old. In the mid-1970s, City Light used the technology available at the time to install its underground system. This included directly burying cables into the ground. That means there was no protective conduit encasing the cables. Over time, the cables have deteriorated. Heat, water and age have caused the cables to crack and ultimately fail. We are seeing the results of this deterioration now. Because budgets for maintenance have been delayed or deferred, needed repairs and/or replacement haven’t occurred. Nearly 40% of the 2500 miles of underground cable in City Light’s system is in this condition.

Eager to handle the situation before the winter months set in, City Light scheduled another planned outage on Monday, October 26 to make further repairs to the underground electrical distribution system. This outage was primarily around Seattle Center. And whatever they did, it seems to be working, considering there were no more spontaneous outages in October. But in order to ensure the issue is fully resolved, City Light has said it will be replacing approximately four to six block of underground cable that is “in need of attention” around 8th Ave W and W Galer. They estimate the work will take between four to six weeks, and is scheduled to be completed before the new year. “Customers in this area may experience one or two planned outages as a result of the work,” City Light Communications & Public Affairs Director Suzanne Hartman wrote. “However, customers will be notified.”

Just a reminder that Seattle City Light is hosting a public meeting tonight to discuss the planned power outage, and subsequent unplanned blackout in Queen Anne and Magnolia over the last few weeks. Superintendent Jorge Carrasco has invited the community to join in today, Tuesday, October 13, from 6:30-8 p.m. in the Rainier Room at Seattle Center (northwest corner).

There have been three power outages on Queen Anne over the last several weeks. The first was on Wednesday, September 16. The second was a scheduled outage on Saturday, September 26 to repair damage from the previous blackout, which led to an unplanned outage later that day. The third outage occurred the next day, Sunday, September 27, knocking out power to 10,000 in Queen Anne and Magnolia for much of the night.

For more information contact Mike Eagan at (206) 615-1691 or mike.eagan@seattle.gov.

Seattle City Light Superintendent Jorge Carrasco has invited the community to join in on Tuesday, October 13, from 6:30-8 p.m. to discuss last weekend’s planned power outage, and subsequent unplanned blackout. The talk will be in the Rainier Room at Seattle Center (northwest corner). For more information contact Mike Eagan at (206) 615-1691 or mike.eagan@seattle.gov.

Queen Anne residents experiences three power outages over the last two weeks. The first was on Wednesday, September 16. The second was a scheduled outage on Saturday, September 26 to repair damage from the previous blackout, which led to an unplanned outage later that day. The third outage occurred the next day, Sunday, September 27, knocking out power to 10,000 in Queen Anne and Magnolia for much of the night.

Roberto Bonaccorso from Seattle City Light just sent me an email with the most up to date information the city has on what caused last night’s power outages in Queen Anne and Magnolia. He writes,

What we (City Light) know at this point is that a planned repair in an underground vault near the Seattle Center was completed on schedule early Saturday morning. In order to prepare a test of the repair, power for the Center was diverted to an alternate feeder (a feeder is a big line that transmits power to large areas of the city).

At that point, a junction box failed on the alternate feeder. Power was switched to a second alternate feeder in order to identify what repairs needed to be made. On Sunday, we had a failure on this second alternate feeder at another location.

Crews were sent out to isolate the problem and our switching operators were able to restore power to customers using multiple feeders. Meanwhile repairs are ongoing to the original junction box and failed cable.

At this time power has been restored to all affected by last night’s outages in Queen Anne and Magnolia. According to Bonaccorso there is no estimate for the completion of the original repairs.