South Seattle Community College (located nearby at 6000 16 Ave S.W.) will be offering a number of very ‘green” non-credit Electric Vehicle classes, beginning with a safety course this Saturday, Feb. 27th.

The classes, part of a partnership with the Seattle Electric Vehicle Association, will be taught by a group of experienced instructors who have converted over two dozen vehicles.

Here are the details:

WHAT: A series of non-credit Electric Vehicle classes

WHERE: South Seattle Community College, located at 6000 16 Ave S.W.

WHEN: Class times vary – see details below:

• Electric Vehicle Conversion Workshop
  Instructor:  Ed Stegall
  An intensive six days hands-on learning class that teaches the basics in converting a gasoline engine to electric power.
  8 am – 5 pm     M T W Th F Sat  March 22-27     $899
• Electric Vehicle Safety Systems
  Instructor:  Roger Wright
  Learn how to keep your electric vehicle safe; how a DC system works, what parts go into it, and why you should have these parts.
  9 – 11:30 am            Sat     February 27     $35
  ** Enrollment is still open for the February 27 class. **
  6:30 – 9 pm             T       May 25  $35
• Introduction to AC Drives for Electric Vehicles
  Instructors:  Dan Bentler and Frank Jump
  Learn the advantages and disadvantages of DC and AC motors. Gain valuable insight and knowledge of how AC drives work and how to apply them to vehicles. Class will provide hands-on operating demonstrations of motors and variable-frequency drives and other motors using bench-top equipment VFDs.
  9 am – 4 pm             Sat     April 24        $65
• Electric Vehicle Component Technology for Conversion
  Instructor:  Cory Cross
  Learn about what parts go into a conversion and how they connect to each other. Strong emphasis placed on learning to read schematics and understanding why the parts are connected that way.
  6 – 9 pm                Th      May 13  $45
• Electric Vehicles – Batteries
  Instructor:  Stephen Johnsen
  Topics include: general overview of popular suitable batteries for EVs; comparison of costs and specs on various batteries available; calculating the kWhr rating of my pack; how to extend battery life; charging and recycling of batteries.
  6:30 – 9 pm             T       May 18  $45
• Electric Bicycles
  Instructor:  Ed Stegall
  Go through the process of actually converting a normal bike to electric. Class also covers bike safety, bike laws and basic maintenance and tips for doing your own conversion on your own or with a kit.
  Class fee of $99 includes two sessions.
  6 – 9 pm                Th      June 3
  9 am – 4 pm             Sat     June 5

INFO: From a press release:

The six-day workshop guides students through the complete process of converting a vehicle from a gasoline engine to electric power.  By the end of the workshop, the group will have completed one running electric car conversion capable of highway speeds, with a 30-60 mile range on one charge.

Electric Vehicle classes fill quickly and interested students are encouraged to sign up early.

REGISTER: Register online at www.LearnAtSouth.org, or call (260) 764-5339 for more information.

South Seattle Community College’s Continuing Education division offers 150 classes each quarter, ranging from computer skills to cooking to home repair. Designed to fit into busy schedules, these classes offer the lifelong learner variety and flexibility, with online and classroom instruction.

The Seattle Electric Vehicle Association was founded in 1979, with a mission to educate, demonstrate, and proliferate electric vehicles. The interests of SEVA members represent a wide spectrum of Electric Vehicle interests range from fast dragsters to NEVs, from home conversions to Teslas.  For more information, visit the website at www.seattleeva.org.

If you live in the Arroyo Beach neighborhood, you may want to attend a Seattle City Light community meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 9th from 7pm – 8pm at Arbor Heights Elementary School (3701 SW 104th) to talk about an upcoming project to rehabilitate underground electrical wiring in the area.

According to a press release:

“Over the years, the cables that were originally installed have formed cracks in the insulation and are failing at an increasing rate. A rehabilitation process that injects a silicone fluid into the cables will extend their life by 20 years or more.

Those homes in the Arroyo Beach area that will be directly affected by this work have been sent letters inviting them to the Feb. 9th meeting, though it is open to anyone interested. For more information, contact Mike Eagan at (206) 615-1691 or mike.eagan@seattle.gov.”

UPDATE 2:45pm 11/16/09: It appears that Seattle City Light lineworkers restored power about 2pm Monday (Nov. 16th) to most of the 4,000 homes and businesses affected by an outage in Burien and unincorporated King County.

According to Seattle City Light’s website, the outage started about 12:40pm as the result of an equipment failure that started a utility pole fire on SW 104^th Street.

The repair crew expected to restore service for the remaining 360 customers without power by 5pm.

The general boundaries of the remaining outage were SW 100th Street on the north, SW 108th Street on the south, Occidental Way SW on the east, and 10th Avenue SW on the west.

PREVIOUSLY: According to the latest “Tweet” from Seattle City Light:

Power restored to most customers in Burien, King County outage.

Remaining 360 customers should have power back by 5 p.m

A previous Tweet from SCL said:

Burien, King County outage caused by pole fire. Crews on site making repairs. Estimate to restore power by 4 p.m.

EVEN MORE PREVIOUSLY: On Monday afternoon (Nov. 16th) around 12:40pm, Seattle City Light reported that around 4,000 customers have lost power in the Burien and North Highline areas.

According to their website:

A repair crew was immediately dispatched to identify the problem and make repairs. An estimate for when power might be restored was not immediately available.

The general boundaries of the outage were SW 95th Street on the north, SW 131st Street on the south, Glendale Way S on the east, and Seola Beach Drive SW on the west.

Starting at 8:30pm tonight (Sat., March 28th), everyone is encouraged to turn their lights off for one hour for “Earth Hour,” a movement meant to raise the awareness of global warming.

Plus, under the right circumstances, it could be fun.

“Earth Hour” is sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, which is asking individuals, businesses, governments and organizations around the world to turn off their lights to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate commitment to finding solutions.

It is projected that one billion people will go dark for Earth Hour.

Already hundreds of icons and landmarks around the world have signed up to turn their lights off for Earth Hour 2009 including:

• The Eiffel Tower in Paris
• Sydney Opera House
• Acropolis and Parthenon in Athens
• The London Eye
• Perhaps your house?

For more information, check out earthhour.org.

Here’s another video with more info: