The City of Seattle continues to follow guidance from our public health authorities including Public Health – Seattle and King County Washington State Department of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding COVID-19. At Seattle City Light we are continuing to provide essential services to our customers throughout this time.
Our crews are constantly working to improve the electrical system in your community. They maintain our equipment and continue to support new electrical services for the growing Seattle area and its surrounding communities. Planned power outages are needed so crews can complete their work in a safe, efficient manner.
Planned outages can be scheduled for a variety of reasons. Depending on the type of work, outages can occur during the day, at night or on the weekends. Our approach to scheduling planned outages is consistent throughout our service territory. Safety, reliability and customer needs are considered as crews plan and schedule any outage-related work. If outages are canceled or rescheduled (due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances), customers can expect to be notified about the change.
We know more people are currently working from home and we will do what we can to mitigate impacts related to planned outages. The safety of our customers and crews is our number one priority. When scheduling planned outages, we continue to evaluate all options, which include the following questions:
- Is the outage needed for crews to safely complete the service or reliability/maintenance work?
- Can crews complete the work while the electrical equipment is energized?
- Can we reschedule the work?
- Can we delay or defer the work?
We understand that power outages can be an inconvenience. However, you can take steps to keep you and your family safe during an outage.
- Customers relying on an electric life support system should have back-up power and know how to operate it.
- City Light also offers its Life Support Equipment Program. The program assists people in the utility’s service area who are dependent on electrically operated life support equipment. To learn more, please visit powerlines.seattlemulti.wpengine.com//lifesupport/.
- Food should be safe in most cases if refrigerators and freezers remain shut while the power is out. When in doubt, please throw it out.
- Know which entrance and exit door to use in a secured building.
- Sometimes alarm systems are triggered when the power goes out or is restored. You may want
to make any necessary arrangements with your carrier. - If you plan to use a portable generator, please be extremely careful. Never plug your generator into an electrical outlet. Plug your appliance directly into the generator.
For additional outage tips and resources, please visit powerlines.seattlemulti.wpengine.com//outage.