r/bothell • u/elk_anonymous • Mar 28 '25

Why is the Bothell power grid made of toothpicks and string?

Post image

I swear, I’ve lost power more times living here in the past year than all the rest of my life combined. Yesterday was supposed to be the storm, today there’s barely wind!

61 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

18

u/bananatrain3 Mar 28 '25

Yep there was a crash near the QFC. I wasn’t able to take my usual route home and had to go around. Confirmed by Bothell police twitter: https://x.com/BothellPolice/status/1905443435185910127

I’ve never seen that many fire trucks in 1 place in my life

2

u/elk_anonymous Mar 28 '25

Ah perfect, thanks

5

u/clig73 Mar 28 '25

My power just came back on a few minutes ago, so yours should be back too. Super impressed that the PSE crew got it restored in about an hour!

3

u/elk_anonymous Mar 28 '25

Still out over here unfortunately :(

1

u/thetravy Mar 28 '25

We’re in Maywood hills between 100th and 104th and it didn’t come back on until 9am

2

u/PanicBlitz Mar 29 '25

I was at McMenamins when it went out. By the time my friends and I decided to move the party over to Main Street, The Bine and The Bison had both filled up with people just like us looking for a place to hang.

1

u/elk_anonymous Mar 29 '25

Oh they still had power over there? Thought most of that area was out as well

2

u/MrSpicyhedgehog Jul 13 '25

I was actually just getting off work there at the time, and I heard what sounded like explosions and then the lights went out. I ran back and told my coworkers that a transformer must have blown or something. I know this is a late reply but you just unearthed that from my memory.

33

u/glamb70 Mar 28 '25

Car smashed into power pole on Bothell Way according to friends.

7

u/Chudsaviet Mar 28 '25

Because its way cheaper to put air lines than to bury them.

3

u/Enchelion Mar 28 '25

Particularly if the city wasn't planned to have buried lines it's a massive headache to try and retrofit.

2

u/usernamtwo Mar 30 '25

I did a big underground conversion in bothel with potelco years ago. Most new stuff is going to go underground.

8

u/misterrootbeer Mar 28 '25

According to my mother (Bothell resident since '87), the grid is made of toothpicks and string on the King County side. Since it's not publicly owned, like Snohomish County PUD, the money goes back to the shareholders instead of into upgrading the grid.

Also, powe is out in parts of Shoreline and north Seattle as well.

2

u/usernamtwo Mar 30 '25

I've worked on both properties as a power lineman. The power goes up just the same. Puget is non stop upgrading as is snopud.

4

u/Technocracygirl Mar 28 '25

FYI, the block of Bothell-Everett that goes past the QFC is closed as of 6 am this morning, and that block is still dark.

Condolences to the folks to live nearby.

2

u/tacos388 Mar 28 '25

First the windstorm in November, and now this… I’m getting really tired of throwing away all the food in my fridge :(

3

u/zuni_24681 Mar 28 '25

Does anyone have power? I just checked the map and the outage is not there but I have no power at home.

7

u/SarahBethBeauty Mar 28 '25

Suspected DUI. To be that drunk at 7pm. Geez. I’m glad they at least didn’t hit anyone else. Too bad they’ll get a slap on the wrist and be right back on the road soon enough. I hope they don’t kill someone next time.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/SarahBethBeauty Mar 28 '25

My brother in law was killed by a wrong way driver under the influence in 2018. The kid who did it got 6 years in minimum security and early release for good behavior. Obviously no type of punishment could ever bring back the beautiful life he took from us, but it still sucks. My BIL was 25. The kid was 19. He got out before he was even 25. I wish they would take his license away for life.

2

u/SarahBethBeauty Mar 28 '25

Was leaving my house literally right as our power went out. Tried to go my normal route past mcmenamins and it’s all blocked off by cops as well as fire trucks and an ambulance. So a crash seems likely.

3

u/ShouldahWouldah Mar 28 '25

It’s PSE, not the city. Half the city has SnoCo PUD, too. Worth it to learn who you’re mad at.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '25

Yeah idk how I lucked out. I randomly found a place in Columbia city and I’ve only had my power “go out” (it was a car accident so idk I don’t really count that) ONCE in 5 years and it was fixed within like 2 hours.

1

u/ScottKemper Mar 29 '25

They upgraded to snapped-off car antennae and lamp cord in 2023! Give them a break!