White Center Now: The blog about White Center

3:01 PM: Much of White Center is without power in an outage affecting more than 11,000 Seattle City Light customers, from southeast West Seattle east to South Park and south into Burien. No word yet on the cause. Updates to come. (Remember that intersections where traffic signals have gone dark are all-way stops.)

4:13 PM: Now down to just under 5,000. White Center is one of the areas where it’s back on. No word yet on the cause.

5:09 PM: Under 3,000 still out.

8:33 PM: Down to under 500, mostly in the Boulevard Park area. The exact cause hasn’t been disclosed yet – “equipment” problem of some kind, SCL says.

12:30 PM MONDAY: We followed up today with SCL spokesperson Jenn Strang, who says, “The exact cause of (this) outage in still under investigation but there is a possibility that it was caused by a bird. The resulting fault caused two lines to wrap together, resulting in the larger impact of the outage.”

That’s the map for a big Seattle City Light outage that started around 3 am for more than 8,000 homes/businesses in White Center and elsewhere in North Highline as well as parts of West Seattle and Burien. No word from SCL on the cause, yet.

The heart of White Center was spared again, but points east and south were hit by power outages as the expected wind moved through early this morning. Above is a screengrab from the Seattle City Light outage map. Though the map shows potential restoration times, remember that those are only guesses/estimates, so if you’re out, you might get yours back sooner than projected – or later.

Seattle City Light is getting ready to switch to a new type of “two-way meter” involving wireless communication – no more human meter readers. It’s set up three community forums around its service area as well as a website for info and comments – the first forum is tomorrow; the third one, in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood on September 26th, is the closest SCL will get to White Center/West Seattle and vicinity. Here’s the utility’s official announcement:

Seattle City Light will host the first of three community forums Wednesday, Aug. 21, regarding the utility’s plans to replace its aging electrical meters with advanced meters that will provide two-way communication.

The forums will be one of the ways customers can share their thoughts and ask questions about the new meters during this early phase of the initiative.

Forums will be held:

North
Wednesday, Aug. 21, from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Northgate Community Center – Multipurpose Room
10510 5th Ave NE

Downtown
Tuesday, Sept. 10, from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Seattle Center – Shaw Room
305 Harrison St.
*Shaw Room is located on the corner of 1st Ave N and Republican St. (North of Key Arena)

South
Thursday, Sept. 26, from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Seattle Housing Authority NewHolly – Gathering Hall
7054 32nd Ave S

Additionally, a website has been created where visitors can get information about the project and provide comments.

Seattle City Light has been converting streetlights to LEDs around its service area for a while, but the focus has been on non-arterial streets because of concerns about how the new lights would handle the needs of major streets.

Now, City Light is getting ready to start swapping out arterial lights too. We talked with SCL’s Scott Thomsen after we spotted a published notice about the call for bids. And he says the White Center business district will be one of the first places to get the new lights, by request of the WC Chamber of Commerce, starting sometime this fall, when 88 lights will be replaced there, as well as almost two-thousand elsewhere in SCL’s service area. Advantages of LEDs include that they last three times as long, use less electricity, waste less light on non-targeted areas (which means less “light pollution”), have a better “depth of field” so that more objects are illuminated, and show colors more truly.

Seattle CIty Light says it’ll have energy-conservation experts at McLendon’s Hardware in White Center this Saturday, 10 am-1 pm, to help you learn about saving money as well as energy. Here are the full details.

Sorry for the “outage” here – not related to the City Light power outage – our server-management company detected a problem that required emergency maintenance, taking White Center Now (and many other sites) down for a while. Looks like it’s done now. We posted some news on partner site West Seattle Blog in the meantime – we use separate server managers for the two sites to dramatically reduce the chances both will be down at the same time, so if ever you notice this site down, please check there or check our Twitter page at http://twitter.com/whitecenternow.

Here are the updates, linking to the full stories on WSB:

-Power outage: All but a few hundred homes/businesses are back on. More here.

-Evergreen Pool: It WILL close September 1st, according to King County Council Chair Dow Constantine, who hopes that will be temporary while the agreement for WhiteWater Aquatics to take over the pool is negotiated. More here.

-Hicks Lake: Warning signs are posted because of an algae bloom. More here. Also, here’s the entirety of the note we received from King County’s Doug Williams:

We just got results back from the state Department of Ecology that confirms a blue-green algae bloom at Hicks has surpassed the safety threshold. While there aren’t likely too many people swimming there right now, it’s possible that people could let their dogs swim and/or drink from the lake. Not a good idea!

We’ve posted signs that ask people to stay out of the water, and don’t let their pets swim in or drink from the lake.

Toxic algae can have some nasty effects on people and pets. In minor cases, it can cause a rash, eye and throat irritation, etc. It’s a neurotoxin that, in serious cases, can cripple your liver, mess with your nervous system, etc. Those are pretty rare situations; you’d have to ingest a lot of the stuff to get that sick. But it’s still important for everyone to heed the warnings and keep out of the water – pets, too.

When will the algae bloom go away? That’s a good question. We’ve seen blooms last for weeks; sometimes they don’t go away until the weather cools down and the sunlight becomes elusive.

We will collect water samples weekly for analysis by DOE. Once we have two weeks where the samples come back below the established acceptable threshold for human contact, we’ll take down the signs.

2:48 PM UPDATE: City Light’s Mike Eagan says the outage is over. Checking on a cause.

ORIGINAL 12:57 PM REPORT: Here’s the news release we just received (12:55 pm):

Power went out for approximately 3,671 City Light customers
in Burien, SeaTac and unincorporated King County at 12:36 p.m. today.

The cause of the outage is currently unknown, but City Light crews are
heading to the area to investigate. An estimated time of restoration is
unknown at this time.

The area affected is bordered on the north by So. 96th St., on the
south by S.W. 175th St, between 24th Ave. S.W. and 33rd Ave S.W.

Stephen Lamphear wanted to share this information:

f you are a customer of Seattle City Light — you do not have to be senior or disabled to get reduced rates.

Low income customers can get a 50% rate reduction. That means what it says — LOW INCOME. Stop struggling to pay utility bills — get help. This is not temporary or one-time help to pay the bill. This is long term rate reduction. Eat better, pay less for electricity.

Discounted Rates for Seniors, Disabled and Low-Income Customers
Qualifying customers can save 50% on electric, water, sewer and garbage bills. Customers living in federally-funded public housing and Section 8 housing are not eligible.

* Seniors and persons with disabilities – If you are a senior citizen or a person with disabilities and your income is at or below 70% of the state median level, call the Mayor’s Office for Senior Citizens at (206) 684-0268.

Income Guidelines.

* Low-Income – Customers with household income at or below 70% of state’s median income may call the Seattle Human Services Department at (206) 684-0268 to qualify and enroll.

This message brought to you by Stephen Lamphear, former Burien City Councilmember!

Just in from Seattle City Light – a news release saying what they’re doing, and what you should be doing, to be prepared – read on: Read the rest of this entry »

The afternoon forecast update is out and there’s still a good chance of strong wind tonight/tomorrow morning, with the possibility of another round on Friday. Here’s a link to keep an eye on: Seattle City Light’s latest list of outages. Nothing on there now. Let’s hope it stays that way.