Slowly but surely, Seattle City Light is moving Capitol Hill’s electrical wires underground to create a safer, more stable power system for the neighborhood.
A five-month project to install underground electrical vaults and equipment will begin later this month along E Union on the backside of Pike/Pine, the city announced this week. Continue reading
19th Ave E, illuminated (Image: CHS)
In an initiative born after pilot tests right here on Capitol Hill, Seattle has been replacing its streetlights with new LED bulbs over the past five years.
This summer, the southern segment of Zone 3 got the treatment with the installation of the new “48 to 62 percent lower energy consumption”-achieving bulbs across the single-family home neighborhoods of North Capitol Hill.
CHS guesstimates we’ve seen a resulting “48 to 62 percent” uptick in complaints emailed to us that the new bulbs are “too bright.”
“It’s like the moon is parked outside our house,” one reader complains.
Seattle City Light spokesperson Scott Thomsen said moonlight was the idea:
The most obvious change with the new lights is the color. The new lights are similar to moonlight while the old high-pressure sodium lights had a warmer, amber tone to them. When you first experience the change, it is very noticeable and can draw your attention to the light. When you look directly at it, you get a greater feeling of brightness. After a few weeks, the color becomes more familiar, draws less attention and generates fewer complaints.
Capitol Hill residents, Thomsen reminds, were partly responsible for the new moonlight stretching across the city. During the pilot tests of new lights around the Hill, Thomsen said one bulb variant stood out as being a “no way” option
“The biggest complaints were reserved for test lights that were even cooler in color, that some in Capitol Hill referred to as ‘zombie blue,'” he tells us. “We listened to them and chose the moonlight color they preferred.”
Overall, Thomsen says City Light has had complaints on less than 4% of the LED streetlight installations.
“If a customer is experiencing a problem, they can contact us,” Thomsen said. “Our streetlight team will visit the location to review the situation and put together a plan for any corrections that might be needed.”
You can learn more and report issues here.
City Light Rate Increases
Thursday at 6 PM at the Yesler Community Center, Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant is hosting a public forum on proposed City Light rate increases:
Come discuss Seattle City Light’s proposed rate increases. Help build a movement to reduce rates for working families and people on fixed incomes, while making corporations and the super-wealthy pay their fair share.
