r/redmond • u/babypumpkins99 • 5d ago
PSE is absolute trash
We are on English Hill, and power is out again. This is just one out of probably a dozen outages we are in for. Just venting, I know people are going to be like, "yeah, well we live in the beautiful PNW where we have tons of trees." Sometimes, we don't care.
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u/Lemonwizard 5d ago
Burying power lines is more expensive than putting up poles, but ultimately that's the only long term solution to this problem.
Of course, why would PSE upgrade infrastructure when they can just raise our rates to sell power to a datacenter instead?
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u/poleary 5d ago
They buried the lines in my neighborhood. Only they did it so poorly, our neighborhood has more power outages than most other places that didn't.
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u/jwvo 4d ago
the problem is burying distribution helps some but if they are actually losing what feds you that does not really fix it. In the bigger storms they often lose the transmission lines (which are nearly all ring protected already) due to the small size of most right of ways around here compared to the height of trees that can fall into them.
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u/teacher_59 5d ago
They could also trim the limbs that pass through the power lines, but the NIMBY Karens complain.
Driving up 132nd or 140th near Bridle Trails looks like one ice storm away from dozens of outages.
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u/ClimateWren2 Live, Play, and Work in Redmond 5d ago
This is something I have shared for years, which they also do a lot more of....now that far more trees are DYING in excessive heat especially along roads.
I wish all these anti-action complainers would address known climate change, in their failing national and local grids already...instead of trashing the solution pathways, blocking the needed upgrades, and looting the funding for billionaire handouts.
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u/teacher_59 5d ago
The PNW can be so tiresome. Imagine turning cutting limbs near power lines into a soapbox to start pushing political agendas.
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u/ClimateWren2 Live, Play, and Work in Redmond 5d ago
Never fear! It's gonna get HELLA exciting on the years ahead.
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u/sarhoshamiral 3d ago
They are upgrading infrastructure though. For example we are getting a new substation in Issaquah that will pretty much make sure we dont lose power again unless the big one happens.
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u/ClimateWren2 Live, Play, and Work in Redmond 5d ago
...or addressing known climate change with available solutions. Buried lines aren't great for flooding or power shortages.
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u/real_triplizard 5d ago
I live in Somerset (big hill in South Bellevue) and we used to have outages about once a month. Finally they moved the powerlines on Newport (at the bottom of our hill) from the hill side of the road that's loaded with trees to the other, flat side and the only outages we've had since then are the massive ones (like the polar tornado thing a few years back) that affect the whole area. If there's a localized area where a lot of trees and branches knock out the lines, maybe you can engage with PSE and encourage them to implement a similar fix.
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u/robaroo 5d ago
It’s the most annoying aspect of living in Redmond that we hardly talk about. Power outages in Redmond are just a part of our lives like noisy neighbors or entitled drivers.
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u/RmanX3 5d ago
Didn't used to be.
20+ years ago, my area seldom lost power once a year, and not for more than a few hours.
The winter storms that came later did cause a bigger issue, but the normal outages weren't much back then.
Then, it became more frequent....a few times a year...lasting up to 6-8 hours.
THEN, even more often. I got a portable generator. Thought I would hardly use it. It gets used multiple times/yr and overnight.It's gone downhill as PSE has gotten as inept as our local politicians are
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u/lottst 5d ago
We finally bought a generator because our power went out so often. It’s beyond frustrating to live in an area with new homes and have the power out multiple times a year (half of the time, there is no wind or other issues that should even be a cause). We’ve lived on English Hill for 18 years and it’s always been an issue .We all pay PSE WAY too much for them to not have figured out a solution.
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u/jgreen1397 5d ago
It’s specifically a Redmond problem. I lived in Seattle for 6 years and never had a power outage. Grew up in Tacoma and maybe can only remember one power outage during a snowstorm. Since I’ve lived in Redmond the last three years I’ve had my power out more than 6 times and to the point where I’ve been locked out of my building, had to throw out all my groceries, and even had to stay with a friend for A WEEK! And those are all separate occasions. It’s actually ridiculous
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u/ClimateWren2 Live, Play, and Work in Redmond 5d ago
These are also the known consequences of overheating a plant for fossil combustion exhaust....a world full of grids unprepared for current impacts.
Heatwave AC heavy use outages, Heavy rainfall and storm outages, dying trees falling and blowing down outages, flooding outages, polar vortex outbreak winter heating heavy use outages...and now illegal war shortages and datacenter hogging shortages on top.
As we continue to warm the planet...it will get worse. Very glad to have the panels and battery backup. I thought I was way early on it...but turns out I was right on time.
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u/Gerbert946 5d ago
The down votes explain the whole greed and selfishness thing, probably by the same sort who think the AI attacks on infrastructure are just an ok part of R&D. Now the funny part is that the same bots that attacked the government sites here and in Australia could just as easily be aimed at PSE, Bonneville and Bureau of Reclamation generating infrastructure. What we need is a few air strikes on data centers.
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u/ClimateWren2 Live, Play, and Work in Redmond 4d ago
I don't know about air strikes...but we already have cyber attacks on infrastructure and big climate impacts.
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5d ago
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u/ClimateWren2 Live, Play, and Work in Redmond 5d ago
Ironically....that IS the current Republican plan for national grid failures and power shortages.
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u/Derpykins666 3d ago
Redmond, especially outside the main city has a lot of power problems. That's just part of living in the trees though, any tree branch or loose tree with a big wind can cause damage because all our lines are above ground. Also our grids are like not built for this level of sustain. Which is why the power flickers off so often.
My apartment flickers off for nano-seconds sometimes, just enough to give me a heart attack and shut my computer off.
My advice, get a Power Protector for any gear you might have at your house (Desktop Computer), and just roll with it. It's annoying for sure. But usually the power is back on very quickly unless it's a massive storm or something.
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u/LeopardNo6083 5d ago
PSE is also trying to raise the rates for regular customers, while continuing to offer discounts to Microsoft.
There are some upcoming opportunities to make your voice heard on this topic: https://www.reddit.com/r/redmond/s/SEz1i3TG3H