UPDATE: Power outage in south West Seattle, White Center, same area/cause as December outage

7:11 AM: Thanks for the texts. More than 3,700 homes and businesses have lost power, including Westwood, South Delridge, and White Center. No hint yet of the cause. Updates to come.

7:28 AM: No indication yet what caused this. Note that the outage zone includes parts of Roxbury and 16th SW, both arterials, with signals, so if you travel through an intersection that’s affected, it’s a four-way stop. Also remember that SCL’s restoration estimates are just guesses. (Added: The latest guess has already changed dramatically, from 2 pm to 8:54 am.)

7:51 AM: We have one report that power’s back. The SCL map lags so we won’t get the full picture for a bit.

8:01 AM: Map shows one pocket remains, almost 400 customers in the Greenbridge area. We’ll update later when we find out the cause. (So far, SCL has attributed it to an “underground issue.”)

8:15 AM: Checking the archives – this outage footprint, and cause, is similar to this December outage. We’re following up on that.

6 PM: City Light spokesperson Julie Moore responded: “Today’s outage was due to a switch failure that caused a substation feeder breaker to lock out. It was the same breaker as the Dec. 12 incident, so that’s why we saw a similar footprint. However, it was a different switch in a different location on the feeder that failed this time.”

18 Replies to "UPDATE: Power outage in south West Seattle, White Center, same area/cause as December outage"

  • KayK January 21, 2021 (7:22 am)

    Anyone know if the stoplight at 8th & Roxbury is effected?

    • EdSane January 21, 2021 (7:35 am)

      8 & Roxbury is powered. Outage is next signal west of.

    • waikikigirl January 21, 2021 (3:34 pm)

      Not being a smart A$$ but why do you ask about the signal light? 

  • Mike January 21, 2021 (7:35 am)

    Anybody know if the traffic signal at 8th SW and SW Roxbury is operating? The outage map has it right on the cusp of the outage. 

  • AMD January 21, 2021 (7:49 am)

    Power is back on!

  • Omri January 21, 2021 (7:52 am)

    Power just came back on at the top edge of the outage map.

  • miws January 21, 2021 (7:54 am)

    Back on, 9000 blk 16th SW! —Mike

  • Jbliss January 21, 2021 (7:55 am)

    Power is back on our block. 10th and Barton.

  • Lola January 21, 2021 (7:55 am)

    All of White Center is out.  No street light it was dark all the way to about 8th on Roxbury. This was about 7:10 AM this morning. 

    Mike yes the light at 8th was working when I went thru. Everything else was dark going back towards WC.

  • East Coast Cynic January 21, 2021 (8:00 am)

    back on 5 minutes ago, Westwood Village.I swear there have been about 3 or so outages in the south west seattle, white center area in the past 3-4 months.  Is our wiring outdated or something?  I swear this problem is something akin to some third world country.

    • WSB January 21, 2021 (8:18 am)

      This one and one in December had, according to our archives with the map image, a similar footprint, and that too was attributed to an “underground” issue, so we’ll see what more SCL can tell us.

    • Buddy January 21, 2021 (10:43 am)

      I totally think it has to do with all the construction be it homes being built or construction on roads. It seems like there are also a lot of natural gas leaks and power outages in the past months. 

    • Richard Shaven January 21, 2021 (1:51 pm)

      Could it be related to construction crews digging up every street in west Seattle all at the same time….? 

  • Agnes January 21, 2021 (8:05 am)

    Power back on about 10 minutes ago in White Center (118th x 104th) – thanks!

  • John January 21, 2021 (8:14 am)

    Came back on near 18th/Delridge around 7:50am.

  • Dorel January 21, 2021 (9:36 am)

    My expectations have not been met.

  • Ryan January 21, 2021 (11:40 am)

    I need to purchase more UPS units for my computers/electronics, this is getting ridiculous.

  • Jim P. January 21, 2021 (8:37 pm)

    A explanation more suitable for non electricians from CL would be nice. Especially as to why we got the lucky lockout twice in a row.

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