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Don’t blame duncan | Columnist Carolyn Ossorio gets some gardening advice at Sustainable Renton. [14]
NEWSLINE: 425.255.3484 FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2014
REGIONAL BATTLE | The Renton Indians girls basketball team saw their season end with a loss to the defending champs. [Sports 15]
City gets new tools to deal with nuisance properties By Brian Beckley bbeckley@rentonreporter.com
The Puget Sound Energy right-of-way on which these transmission lines sit near Monroe Avenue is one of the two possible routes through Renton being discussed for higher-voltage lines the company plans to install. The other route is along Lake Washington. Tracey Compton, Renton Reporter
PSE’s plan to ‘Energize Eastside’ looking at two possible routes through Renton By Brian Beckley bbeckley@rentonreporter.com
Due to an ever-growing demand for energy on the east side of Lake Washington, Puget Sound Energy this year announced its “Energize Eastside” initiative to bring new transmission lines to our side of the lake. The new lines will drastically increase capacity over the current transmission lines, but the route the new lines will take has not yet been selected and residents from around the affected cities are being asked for their input on choosing their location through Renton, but residents are worried that the choice will pit neighbor against neighbor. According to Andy Wappler, vice president of Corporate Affairs for PSE, the power supply on the Eastside has not been upgraded since the 1960s, when demand both for residential customers and businesses was much less than it is today. As the population and economy grew, the transmission lines
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did not. “Fast forward to today and we’re at a situation where the energy demand on the Eastside by 2017-2018 will exceed the capacity of the delivery system,” he said this week. Specifically, the transmission lines presently handle 115 kilovolts (kV) and need to be able to deliver 230 kV. Wappler said the upgrade is necessary to ensure that PSE can continue to reliably provide electricity in the future. Wappler likened the situation to someone towing a trailer that exceeds the truck’s towing capacity in that eventually it may lead to engine damage. In this case, he said the possibility of “widespread outages increase.” To address the issue, PSE plans to build a new set of transmission lines between its Talbot Hill and Sammammish substations (the Samammish Station is actually in Redmond), a total of 18 miles. Wappler said the two substations can handle 230 kV, but the lines between them max out at 155 kV, which will affect those along the lines. “What we need is to be able to make a connection between Renton and Redmond,” he said. “This is really about bringing [ more energize page 7 ]
Duplex fire displaces three By Brian Beckley bbeckley@rentonreporter.com
Three people were displaced this past weekend following a two-alarm fire in the Shadow Hawk neighborhood. According to Renton Fire and Emergency Services Deputy Chief Greg Hartman, firefighters responded early Sunday morning to a call in the 3000 block of Southeast 11th Place. Hartman said the structure, a duplex, had “quite extensive damage” despite firefighters getting the fire under control within 45 minutes. Inside, the flames burned a hole though [ more fire page 12 ]
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Residents worry that choice of routes will pit ‘neighbor against neighbor’
The City of Renton is adding new tools to their toolbox in an attempt to deal with businesses that receive an inordinate number of police calls. The City Council this month approved an ordinance giving the city the ability to revoke the business license of chronic nuisance properties, such as taverns that get many calls for fights, noise and other police complaints. “We’ve had an increasing number of problem establishments in town and several are repeat customers,” said City Attorney Larry Warren. “One thing we have control over is the business license.” The ordinance defines a chronic nuisance property as one that has received more than six calls for police service within a 60-day period, 10 calls for service in a 180-day period of 14 calls for service with a 12-month [ more nuisance page 8 ]