West Seattle power-outage update: Underground cable to blame

10:57 AM: The power outage affecting more than 60 homes on western Charlestown Hill is in its 10th hour and the estimated time of restoration has been pushed back again until after 1 pm. We’re waiting to hear back from Seattle City Light on details regarding the “equipment failure” listed on the outage map as its cause, and we’ll add an update here when that information is available.

1:33 PM: Still out, according to SCL map, which now describes restoration as “pending.” SCL spokesperson Scott Thomsen tells WSB, “The crew working on this outage is still trying to determine what piece of equipment failed. This can be a challenge with underground facilities where you can’t just look at the cable and see whether it is intact or damaged. They work through a progression to identify the section of line where the problem exists, including checks on transformers and connections. In some cases, it can require digging up the last section of cable to find the damaged spot and make the repair.”

3:37 PM: Just checked the outage map, and this is no longer listed – if you don’t have your power back, though, be sure City Light knows!

4:46 PM: Update from SCL’s Thomsen – an underground-cable failure caused this outage, as was also the case in an early-morning outage in southwest West Seattle about two weeks ago.

8 Replies to "West Seattle power-outage update: Underground cable to blame"

  • alki resident February 4, 2015 (11:41 am)

    Its a rabbit. (Sorry Im home sick with a bad cold, had nothing better to do)

    • WSB February 4, 2015 (12:38 pm)

      Does look like a bunny.

  • MikeC February 4, 2015 (2:55 pm)

    Still out. Still “pending.” Bad bunny.

  • anonyme February 4, 2015 (4:01 pm)

    what’s with all the outages lately? It’s clearly not just wind or weather.

    • WSB February 4, 2015 (4:45 pm)

      This was another underground cable failure, SCL just told us.

  • JayDee February 4, 2015 (6:51 pm)

    I was taking a shower this AM, saw the lights flicker and went “Huh? Not that windy…” I live a Tiger Woods drive away so wondered if there was a power outage. And Voila! WSB rides to the rescue.

  • vogel February 5, 2015 (11:21 am)

    What causes underground cable failure?

  • Retired Sparky February 5, 2015 (12:00 pm)

    Lots of things can cause underground cable failure. One of the most common is moisture (especially the old pre-conduit installations, but even conduit gets water in it), earth movement, dig ups, overloads, overheating….. UG service is nice to have, but it’s a lot more complicated to fix.

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