Last week I went to a meeting with Seattle City Light with about a dozen small builders who work mainly in the south end of the City or just outside it but are still served by Seattle City Light. They were mad. For many of them, the meeting was the last desperate attempt to get answers to many, many questions and issues that are slowing down their projects and adding costs.

I am posting the complete document offered by one builder representative who lays out in excruciating detail why the Department is failing them. I’m not doing this so much to blast Seattle City Light; they’re listening and trying to address the problems. It’s because I get tired of hearing how developers are corporations, greedy, and profit driven to the exclusion of all else and that these things mean housing is expensive and out of reach for ordinary people in Seattle.

That’s just false. These people are hard working business owners, often on site, managing projects with the own hands. I’m posting this because I want those who are curious to understand that all of these issues add costs to housing. When Departments don’t help builders, and when timelines slip, and standards are unclear or always changing, it’s the end user, that average person who ends up paying the price.

I don’t want people to feel sorry for builders. I want people to recognize the job isn’t easy but it’s one that needs to get done. Getting angry at builders of housing for high prices and trying to punish then for it is as wrong headed as punishing farmers when a drought wipes out their crops. Instead of adding more costs, fees, taxes, rules, limits, headaches and hassles (not to mention inflationary schemes like Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning) we need to be reducing all these things. Instead we have a City that each and every day, in big ways and small, makes the difficult and risky job of building housing that is in demand more difficult and expensive.

We hear complaints from neighbors all the time. Here’s some from a builder.

The Seattle City Light Experience for the Construction Office;

As experienced by Megan Parsons; Permitting Manager for Soundbuilt Homes or former experience while working at Richmond American Homes.

Projects:

I have worked with Seattle City Light for about 3 years now on 2 different projects. The first project was 55 lots in Seola Gardens from June of 2012 – April 2015, and the second being the Foster Short Plat beginning in May of 2015 to current. During both projects I have experienced the same type of delays and lack of communication from Seattle City Light employees. What I have been in charge of handling for both companies was the applications for temporary and permanent power for new SFRs and making sure the associated connection charges at paid in full.

Communication Issues:

Lack of communication is in my opinion one of the biggest issues I have experiences. During both projects the amount of follow up phone calls and Emails have exceeded any other utility company I have dealt with. On average it takes 3‐4 Emails AND 3‐4 phone calls in order to get a hold of the “project contact.”

The “Process”:

I was told to begin the process that I need to fill out an application and Email it to the project inspector for processing. On average once the application has been sent via Email, it takes 2‐3 weeks for the application to be processed. During this time, I will send Emails asking for my service request numbers so that I can pay the $1400 temp power pole connection charge; which cannot be paid until the application is processed. Once I have paid the temp fees, I am always assured that it will be 6‐8 weeks for connection. This was not the case for the Foster plat, and was hit or miss with the Seola project. For Seola I was told that I had to install a minimum of 5 poles at a time in order for them to make the trip out to inspect the project. For Foster, I was not told that.

For permanent power, I was told that the application for temp power should be filled out for the perm connection as well for quicker processing, so there is no need to turn in any further paperwork. Once the conduit is laid in the ground for the perm service, the site super is to contact the inspector and have them come out to inspect that all conditions have been met. At this time the inspector should measure the length of the conduit in order to determine to fee for the permanent service connection. This fee is not a set fee; but based off the length of the conduit. Again, I will have to wait for the site inspector to create a new service request number and attach fees to it before I can pay any connection charges. This can take anywhere from 2‐3 weeks and constant communication. After I have paid, I was told it could take 6‐8 weeks before someone is back on our job site to inspect and MAYBE connect to the perm service.

Timeline Examples:

Temp connections were paid on June 1st and I was told On October 9th that it would be “installed very soon.” This is 4 months from the time of payment, 16 weeks. The second week of January 2016; my site super told me he was getting no response from the inspector at SCL in regards to getting the perm service started. I spent the next 3 weeks Emailing and calling multiple people within SCL until I finally reached Cecile Bamer. I got a phone call the next day with a long list of excuses of why everyone has been out of the office for weeks but still no real answer as to what our fees for the Foster lots were and when someone could be onsite.

A few weeks later, I was told by Brittney Kent after requesting the contact information for our new site inspector; that I should not call and Email them all the time because I would be hindering their response time. Even though I was not getting responses at all.  After another 2 weeks of no one returning my phones call or Emails; I called Cecile Bamer again letting her know that I have still not been provided the fees and we have had inspectors on site. I expressed that I just wanted to get the fees paid so that I did not have to wait even longer to get permanent power. I was provided the fees within 48 hours but told that I had to drive from our office in South Hill Puyallup to the downtown Seattle location to pay with a credit card; even though I was allowed to by the temp fees over the phone using the same card. It took over 5 weeks of asking every 3 days and calling a higher up manager before I was provided the service request numbers and connection fees.

During my time at Richmond American Homes, I experienced the same lack of communication from multiple inspectors and extended timeframes for the simplest part of the process; paying the fees. During phase 1 of Seola Gardens, we were forced to build our entire model home off a generator (5 month built time with a 4 week lead on power) because of this connection process. The home was complete long before we received the approval for connection to the permanent service. It avoid further construction delays as stated before; I was told that I HAD to do lots in batches and they would not come out for one single lot. That they were too busy for that. Since it was a huge project; Richmond complied and did them in batches.

The Effect on Builders/New Homeowners:

The inability to get permanent power service to houses has delayed final building inspections and forced them to extend closing dates. Things like this can hurt future residences as meeting closing dates are very important in this line of work. By delaying us because you are “too busy,” you could be forcing a family that is depending on that moving date, to have nowhere to live for an unknown amount of time because there is no guarantee of installation with SCL.

How Others Power Providers Work/Suggestions:

My biggest suggestion is to stop basing the permanent power connection charge of the length of the conduit. Tacoma Power has a FLAT FEE for their connection charges, and will take payment for both the temporary and permanent service at the same time (even long before building permits are issued.) They will also take credit cards over the phone. This is also something that will help builders out. I am not sure how PSE handles the determination of their connection charges since each lot is different from what I have seen but they bill AFTER THE FACT. This keeps the process flowing smoothly so that there is no delay due to someone needing to make a payment. They set up a customer account and bill for the charges; due within 30 days.

Seattle City Light Issue’s for electricians begin at the time of Temporary Power. Here is a firsthand account from their experience during the Foster Short Plat construction:

Attempting to get Temporary Power:

We had made many phone calls and left messages with a person by the name of Doug Woo. It would take several days to get any kind of response and usually only left us with more questions or we would be directed to someone else. After several weeks we were able to get Temp Power to 4 lots by utilizing the secondary pipes that were installed by the developer of the property. This is not a common practice with other utility companies.

Hooking up Permanent Power:

I have personally had 3 meeting on site with SCL, first meeting we were expecting Doug Woo but instead were greeted by 2 young Ladies that informed us that we were allowed to use PVC bends in the ditch instead of Ridged Steel sweeps, this would have made life a lot easier. Shortly after this meeting I received a call from a gentleman named Roy, He informed me that PVC would not be accepted and that Ridged Steel 90’s would have to be used. Roy and I also met out on site and went over the issues we were having with the power ditches serving the homes. At this time Roy looked at the pipe work we had completed for lot 2 and gave us permission to back fill. He also took pictures and we discussed my concerns about having power down for more than a day when converting from temp power to permanent power. At the end of this meeting I felt that all issues had been addressed and we were good to go. So I sent a crew out and did the prep work on lot’s 3&9 while using lot 2 as our guide line. I then called Roy to let him know that these lots were ready for his inspection.

After Roy’s inspection he contacted me and informed me that that the PVC 45 degree bends that we installed would not meet there standards and that I would need to contact a gentleman by the name of Paige for explanation as to why? I contact Paige and try to explain the problems we are having on site and he is unable to comprehend why there is an issue so we agree to have a meeting on site to discuss what needs to be done. Again I meet on site with Paige and I have him look at lot 3 that we had prepped and his first response was that will work but only to be followed by if his mandrel will pass through the 45 degree bend. I asked if he thought it would but he thought that it would not. Next solution is to remove the 3 inch steel 90 degree sweeps and install 1 steel sweep 45` and 1 Pvc sweep 45`. After this meeting all parts were order and we are waiting for their arrival so that we can install.

Now before we can install we have to call SCL and have the wires removed from the secondary pipes that are powering our temp pole. After removal of wire we can complete the pipe work and then again contact SCL to prove the pipes by pulling the mandrel through with their inspector onsite. If it passes the mandrel inspection then finally they will schedule a line crew to come hook up the home. If it does not pass the pipes need to be dug up and repairs made.

So here we are, we have 2 almost completed houses with no power. We have been powering the furnaces from the temp poles to continue the drying process of the home and continue the construction. From what I can see when the ditch work is passed we face the possibility of being without power for a couple days.

How Other Power Companies Work With Builders:

Tacoma Power has a SSB Box on the property line that will serve both as a temporary power source and Permanent Power for the home, The SSB can usually Serve 2 houses and when temp power is disconnected the home is powered up same day. No power loss to site during the course of construction. PSE supplies every lot with a power stub that also provides power for the temp pole and the home with no down as far as power loss.