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Utilities

VISION

Bellevue has the public and private utilities that meet the needs of a growing city.

Public and private utilities are building the systems to support a 21st century community. These services are resilient and efficient, creating a safe and consistent environment for all residents and businesses to thrive. Utilities are sited, designed and operated with consideration for the visual, social and environmental impacts.

UTILITIES SCOPE

The Utilities element is about how the city manages public water, wastewater, surface and stormwater systems as well as access to private utilities like electricity, internet, and gas.

INTRODUCTION

Utilities are the basic building blocks of urban living. Services such as clean drinking water, wastewater and stormwater management, electricity, natural gas, telephone and internet are essential to the health of city residents and the environment.

This element works in concert with the Land Use element to ensure that Bellevue will have adequate utilities to serve both existing development and future growth. Policies also address environmental impacts, facilities siting and construction, economics and aesthetics in design and landscaping.

In Bellevue, as in many cities, utilities are provided by a combination of city-managed and non-city-managed providers, as shown in Figure UT-1. Depending on the service, these providers are state regulated, federally licensed or municipally franchised providers. The provision of utilities is central to the Growth Management Act. The GMA encourages development in areas served by urban services and infrastructure such as the sewer system and public water and power systems, and

FUNCTIONAL PLANS

• Water System Plan. This plan provides a basis for capital improvement planning for six years and forecasts anticipated needs to a 20-year planning horizon.
• Storm and Surface Water System Plan. This plan establishes the city's storm and surface water policy.
• Wastewater System Plan. This plan provides a basis for capital improvement planning for the next 6 years and forecasts anticipated needs for the next 20 years and, ultimately, for system build-out.
• Watershed Management Plan. This plan contains actions the city and community can use to improve watershed health.

ensures that planning for future development occurs to maintain the standard of service across the service area.

Figure UT-1. City-Managed and Non City-Managed Utilities

TODAY’S CONDITIONS AND TOMORROW’S PROJECTIONS

Utilities Today and Tomorrow

The Utilities element establishes the City's approach to providing safe, high-quality, and reliable utility services for residents and businesses. It guides all functional city-managed utility system plans and creates the framework for our collaboration with providers of other utilities. Each utility is governed by a detailed functional plan managed by the City or a strategic plan managed by the outside provider that provides policy guidance for that specific system. The Utilities element provides guidance for all utilities in Bellevue.

The City of Bellevue manages the wastewater, water, and storm and surface water utilities, as well as solid waste management activities. The wastewater and water utilities serve the city and several jurisdictions outside the city limits and are self-supporting enterprise operations, separate from the city General Fund. The wastewater collection system discharges into larger pipes owned and operated by the King County Wastewater Treatment Division that transports the sewage for treatment and eventual discharge into Puget Sound. The wastewater utility serves about 35,000 customers across 37 square miles, including the Medina, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point, Yarrow Point, and Beaux Arts and includes approximately 524 miles of mainline pipes, 130 miles of service stubs, and 46 pump and lift stations. Bellevue owns 15 miles of submerged wastewater pipeline

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OTHER ORGANIZATION PLANS

• King County Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan. This plan presents proposed strategies for managing King County’s solid waste over a six-year period.
• Puget Sound Energy Integrated Resource Plan. A 20-plus year view of PSE’s energy resource needs, developed through a planning process that evaluates how a range of potential future outcomes could affect PSE’s ability to meet electric and natural gas supply needs.
• Redmond Water System Plan. The Redmond water utility serves a small portion of Bellevue in the Overlake area.

in Lake Washington and 4 miles of submerged wastewater pipeline in Lake Sammamish. Management of the lake lines is critical to maintaining and protecting water quality in Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish.

Bellevue purchases water from the Cascade Water Alliance, a regional supplier to several cities and special purpose districts and serves over 37,000 customers over 37 square miles, including the adjacent communities of Clyde Hill, Hunts Point, Medina, Yarrow Point, and portions of the cities of Issaquah and Kirkland with 620 miles of water main pipes. Bellevue works with Cascade Water Alliance to promote the efficient use of the public water supply to customers through education, technical assistance and incentive programs.

Bellevue’s storm and surface water operations include stormwater runoff and flood control, protection of surface water quality, support of fish and wildlife habitats, protection of the environment, and public education. Bellevue provides storm and surface water utility service to all properties within the city. There are 26 drainage basins in the city, most with year-round

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streams, over 19,000 public storm drains, 400 miles of pipes, and over 1,200 city- and privately-owned detention facilities.

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) serves Bellevue with electrical power and natural gas. The city maintains a list and schematic system map (Map UT-7) of necessary electrical transmission, distribution, and substation facilities and administers policies that guide provision of adequate electrical power to serve the community. The city also has environmental review and permitting authority over the activities of the utility within the city's boundaries. PSE imports electrical energy from generation sources in Canada, on the Columbia River, and from other generation sites inside and outside of Puget Sound Energy's service territory.

Puget Sound Energy also builds, operates, and maintains the natural gas distribution system serving Bellevue. In 2024, Puget Sound Energy served more than 34,000 natural gas customers within Bellevue.

The Pacific Northwest receives natural gas from various regions of the United States and Canada. Natural gas is transported throughout the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho via a network of interstate transmission pipelines owned and operated by Northwest Pipeline Corporation. Puget Sound Energy takes delivery of natural gas from Northwest's Williams Pipeline east

of Lake Sammamish and distributes the gas to customers via Puget Sound Energy's distribution system. The distribution system serving Bellevue consists of both high pressure and intermediate pressure mains.

As of 2024, Puget Sound Energy's natural gas distribution system has sufficient capacity to serve existing demand for gas service in Bellevue. However, system capacity enhancements may be required to provide service to new development.

Telecommunications is the transmission of information in the form of electronic signals or other similar means. Telecommunications services generally include the following categories:

• Landline Telephone – In 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued order 19-72 that changed the 1996 Telecommunications Act so that telecommunication companies are no longer required to maintain the traditional copper loop telephone infrastructure. While this technology is still in use, telephone customers are increasingly switching to Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and wireless/cellular technology. Telecommunication companies are expected to continue to upgrade their infrastructure to serve these newer technologies and slowly phase out the copper loop infrastructure.

• Wireless Communications – A wide variety of cellular communications and wireless data services are available in Bellevue. Currently, these services rely on ground-based antennae located on towers or buildings. This element recognizes that providing wireless service involves adapting to changing technologies, which may make current forms of receivers obsolete.

• Television and Broadband Internet – Multiple cable operators provide services in Bellevue. This service provides broadcasting via a network of overhead and underground coaxial and fiber optic cables and includes internet and telephone service.

Bellevue’s central location and significant employment concentration will continue to attract new and evolving technologies in the field of telecommunications. The city supports increasing the availability of improved telecommunications services throughout the city, balancing health and safety, aesthetics, the environment and the economy.

Bellevue facilitates the development and maintenance of all utilities at the appropriate levels of service to accommodate the city's projected growth. Bellevue facilitates the provision of reliable utility service in a way that balances the public's interest in safety and health, consumers' interest in paying no more than a fair and reasonable price for the utility's product, the natural environment, and the community's desire that utility projects be aesthetically compatible with surrounding land uses. The City of Bellevue processes permits and approvals for utility facilities in a fair and timely manner and in accord with development regulations that encourage predictability. Bellevue encourages new technology that improves utility services and reliability while balancing health and safety, economic, aesthetics, and environmental factors. Bellevue provides policy guidance for each utility facility system specific to its city-managed or non-city-managed utility system status.

Challenges and Opportunities

Internet Connectivity

Virtually all of Bellevue can connect to the internet through broadband technology, however, fiber optic is not universally available. New technology offers new opportunities to bring high speed internet access to more of the city. Ensuring that quality, affordable internet connectivity is available will further the city's goal of economic growth and competitiveness. As the telecommunication system is upgraded, the city will work to ensure that the benefits and burdens of the deployment of this utility are equitably distributed. A balanced permitting process will help encourage maintenance and upgrading of telecommunications infrastructure contributes to

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the livability of all parts of Bellevue.

Condition of Utility Infrastructure

Some of Bellevue’s utilities infrastructure is aging and will require repairs and replacement over the next twenty years. The costs of replacing utility infrastructure are substantial and take years for planning and implementation. Each city-managed utility has strategies and plans for funding and building the necessary improvements, which are scheduled and assigned funding in the city’s seven-year Capital Investment Program (CIP).

For example, infrastructure for both drinking water and wastewater is aging, with most of the systems well past midlife. Slightly more than 40% of the city’s water mains are made of asbestos cement pipe, generally the oldest pipe in Bellevue’s water system and the type that wears out the fastest. Replacing asbestos cement pipe is the focus of Bellevue’s water pipe replacement programs. For wastewater utility programs, the cost to repair or replace aging sewer mains, especially in-lake submerged wastewater pipes, will be substantial. The utility’s asset management program is planning for timely replacement of pipes and other facilities to maintain reliable service and protect the environment.

Accommodating Future Demand

The City plans to meet changes in demand through the regularly updated functional plans, including the Water System Plan, the Storm and Surface Water Plan and the Wastewater System Plan. These plans take into account past growth

trends and future targets. Incremental upgrading of facilities is managed through these plans. Non-city utility providers will also experience increased demand for services and will need to plan for new or improved facilities. The city will continue to coordinate with the other service providers to ensure they have the information they need to plan for the future system.

Early planning is critical for transparency in the coordination of the location and visual and physical integration of future utility facilities. Map UT-7 identifies planned electrical facilities anticipated by Puget Sound Energy's system plan. Such sensitivity factors as proximity to residential neighborhoods, visual access, and expansion within or beyond an existing facility border were considered in identifying potential incompatibilities. Future facilities will be subject to the required regulatory siting process that includes community feedback.

Utilities Policy Summary

General Utility System

Bellevue strives to serve the community with reliable, sustainable, quality service through the management of city-owned utilities and cooperation with regional partners and utility providers. The city uses a system of plans to detail a system inventory, system management and operational policies and level of service standards for each utility. For non-city managed utilities, the city works with the providers to ensure consistent and quality service.

Utility Coordination

Providing reliable utility service requires cooperation of many organizations. Service area boundaries are determined in cooperation with King County and other service providers and the extension of services like water and wastewater needs to be done in a systematic manner to unserved areas such as Bellevue’s Potential Annexation Area.

Hazardous Waste & Solid Waste

Bellevue promotes the safe disposal of hazardous and solid waste in accordance with the King

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WASTE MANAGEMENT

Waste management activities include solid waste planning, promotion, and monitoring the performance of private contractors who carry out collection of solid waste, recyclables, organics, and litter. These services are financed through garbage rates that are set by the City Council. There are over 30,000 residential customer accounts and 1,600 commercial accounts in Bellevue.

County Solid Waste Disposal Plan. The separation of waste streams and the use of recycling where possible is Bellevue’s preferred disposal strategy to provide a convenient, cost-effective system that is environmentally friendly and visually unobtrusive. The city continues to coordinate with King County on the location of facilities to equitably distribute the benefits and burdens of waste disposal.

Wastewater Utility

Bellevue strives to provide a wastewater disposal system that protects the environment and prioritizes the health and safety of the Bellevue community. Bellevue strives to connect all homeowners to the wastewater system and encourages homeowners with septic systems to connect to the wastewater system where it is available.

Storm and Surface Water Bellevue maintains the storm and surface water system to control damage from storms, protect water quality and support fish and wildlife habitat. The city educates the public about water quality issues and promotes or requires measures to protect and enhance the environment, such as low impact development.

Water High quality drinking water that is cost-effective and secure is a priority for Bellevue. The city manages the system to proactively mitigate vulnerabilities and meet all federal and state standards. Bellevue promotes the conservation and wise, efficient use of water and strives to serve as a model for the community in the efficient use of water.

General Non City-managed Utilities The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) regulates the services and defines the costs that a utility can recover, to ensure that the utility acts prudently and responsibly. With the adoption of the Growth Management Act, both the WUTC and the City of Bellevue have jurisdiction over the activities of electric, gas, and telephone utilities within Bellevue’s city limits.

Bellevue has the authority to regulate land use and, under Growth Management Act, is required to consider the location of existing and proposed utilities and potential utility corridors in land use planning. The city must also plan for the adequate provision of utilities consistent with the goals and objectives of its Comprehensive Plan, taking into consideration the public service obligation of the utility involved.

Bellevue is entitled to reasonable compensation for use of its rights-of-way and leases of city-owned property, structures and conduits. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 established new responsibilities for the FCC in licensing of wireless communication providers. The licenses allow the right to use a block or blocks of the radio frequency spectrum to provide wireless services. Section 704(a)(7) of the Act recognizes the authority of state and local governments over decisions regarding siting of wireless communication facilities, subject to certain limitations.

Power Utility PSE builds, operates, and maintains the electrical utility system serving Bellevue. Bellevue endeavors to work with PSE to provide highly reliable service for Bellevue residents and businesses. Bellevue works with PSE to plan for investments to ensure sufficient grid capacity for electrification and decarbonization. The city encourages or requires the undergrounding of new lines and co-location of utilities whenever possible to reduce visual clutter and facilitate greater reliability.

Telecommunication Services Bellevue encourages affordable high-speed internet access throughout the city. The policies in this subsection address current technology recognizing that new technologies are constantly emerging. The city encourages new technology that is consistent with an equitable balancing of the costs and benefits. In most cases, telecommunications services will use existing utility corridors, public rights-of-way and other city-owned properties, and will be able to provide services to all parts of the city. Bellevue encourages the shared use of space consistent with the city's service mission for telecommunication infrastructure projects within the street right-of-way and for telecommunication infrastructure opportunities on other city property. Bellevue's infrastructure investment and aesthetic quality should be protected from unnecessary degradation caused by the construction of telecommunications infrastructure.

Map UT-1. Utility Service Areas

The City of Bellevue provides water, wastewater and stormwater services to all areas within Bellevue except in the Hilltop subdivision where water service is provided by Water District 117. The City also provides water and/or wastewater services to areas outside of Bellevue.

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Map UT-2. Wastewater Collection System Facilities

Wastewater flows through city-owned and maintained pipes into King County's regional trunk lines where it is conveyed to Renton or Brightwater Wastewater Treatment Plants for treatment.

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Map UT-3. Property Without Wastewater Service

Non-sewered areas rely on septic tanks for wastewater treatment. The King County Health Department regulates the use of septic systems in King County, including Bellevue.

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Map UT-4. Major Water Facilities

Bellevue’s drinking water is acquired through the Cascade Water Alliance. Bellevue is responsible for the local water distribution system, which includes water reservoirs, pump stations, and supply inlet meters along with the main supply line and water pipes.

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Map UT-5. Storm and Surface Water Facilities

The stormwater system in Bellevue is a combination of public and private streams, lakes, wetlands, pipes, catch basins and flood control sites that drain into Lake Washington or Lake Sammamish.

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Map UT-6. Existing and Planned Electrical Facilities

Electrical facilities are provided by Puget Sound Energy. Facilities include transmission lines, and substations that move energy to Bellevue residents and businesses. Electrical facilities are planned to meet future demand in Bellevue and regionally.

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Not Sensitive Siting per LUC 20.20.255 (D)

• Existing electrical facility - potential expansion
• Existing electrical facility - no expansion planned or outside of Bellevue
• Existing Transmission Substation
• Existing 115kV Transmission Line
• Planned 115kV Transmission Line

Sensitive Siting; will require alternative siting analysis per LUC 20.20.255 (D)

• (S) New electrical facility
• Existing electrical facility - potential expansion
• Transmission line facility - potential expansion
• Sensitive siting areas
• City Limits

Data Source: City of Bellevue

Produced by: City of Bellevue Community Development Department and Department of Information Technology, Geospatial Technology Services.

Map UT-7. Puget Sound Energy Natural Gas Mains

PSE provides natural gas to Bellevue customers through high-pressure natural gas lines that also serve PSE customers regionally.

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Data Source: City of Bellevue

Produced by: City of Bellevue Community Development Department and Department of Information Technology, Geospatial Technology Services.

Map UT-8. Olympic Pipeline Company Transmission Pipeline

The Olympic Pipeline Company’s liquid petroleum transmission pipelines run through the middle of Bellevue impacting many neighborhoods.

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City of Bellevue Comprehensive Plan 2044 ■ Utilities ■ Page UT-15

Map UT-9. Fiber Optic Network

The fiber optic network is expanding in Bellevue. It is provided through several partnerships.

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Fiber Optic Network Ownership

• Bellevue
• Future Bellevue Network
• Kirkland UW Bellevue Consortium
• Future Kirkland UW Bellevue Consortium
• Bellevue School District/ Bellevue College [ ] City Limits :::: Urban Growth Area :::: Boundary

Data Source: City of Bellevue

Produced by: City of Bellevue Community Development Department and Department of Information Technology, Geospatial Technology Services.

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GOAL & POLICIES

Goal

To develop and maintain all utilities at the appropriate levels of service to accommodate the city's projected growth, encourage predictability and implement new technology to improve utility services and their reliability.

Policies

General Utility System

UT-1. Manage utility systems effectively in order to provide reliable, sustainable, quality service and to mitigate service disruptions.

UT-2. Build and manage city-owned utility infrastructure assets to reduce service disruption and risks to public safety, economic vitality, property and the environment due to asset failure.

UT-3. Use design and construction standards that are environmentally sensitive, safe, cost-effective and appropriate.

UT-4. Encourage public-private partnerships to take advantage of the city's fiber optic network to facilitate innovation, service delivery and competition for broadband deployment throughout the city.

UT-5. Encourage new and cost-effective emerging information, telecommunications and energy technologies that would benefit city utility users and improve utility service and efficient water and energy use.

UT-6. Ensure that the location, type and size of all public facilities is determined and/or approved by the city.

UT-7. Base the extension and sizing of system components on existing and future demand. System capacity will not determine land use.

UT-8. Design, construct and maintain facilities to minimize their impact on surrounding neighborhoods.

UT-9. Encourage the joint use of public facilities such as the development of a storm and surface water detention area as passive recreation.

UT-10. Emphasize cost effective management of city utility systems over their lifetime, including planning for their renewal and replacement, balancing risk and maintaining desired service levels. Forecast future capital and maintenance costs and manage rates so that customer rate revenue funds the cost of ownership equitably across generations.

UT-11. Work with utility providers to educate and inform the public about the costs and benefits of emerging technologies.

UT-12. Develop and periodically update functional utility system plans that forecast system capacity and needs for at least a 20 year planning horizon.

UT-13. Require Low Impact Development principles to minimize impervious surfaces and native vegetation loss on all infrastructure improvement projects.

Utility Coordination

UT-14. Maintain the city's utility service areas so they include all the Potential Annexation Area.

UT-15. Expand the service area boundaries in cooperation with King County and neighboring jurisdictions. In unincorporated areas, expand the service area only if the land is part of the Potential Annexation Area.

UT-16. Utilities may be extended outside the city within the service area if the annexation process has begun, through a pre-annexation agreement if immediate annexation cannot be required or is not reasonable, or through an interlocal agreement.

UT-17. Extend water and wastewater utility service to unserved areas of the utility service area, including extensions into potential annexation areas, if the city's costs are reimbursed.

UT-18. Coordinate with other jurisdictions and governmental entities in the planning and implementation of multi-jurisdictional utility facility additions and improvements.

UT-19. Coordinate with the appropriate jurisdictions to ensure that utility facilities that are to be constructed in potential annexation areas are designed and built in accord with City of Bellevue standards.

UT-20. Coordinate emergency preparedness and response with local and regional utility partners.

Hazardous Waste

UT-21. Cooperate with other private and public agencies in the region to manage and control hazardous waste and moderate risk waste, including medical wastes and hazardous household substances.

UT-22. Educate the public in the proper handling and disposal of hazardous household waste and on the use of alternative products or practices which result in reducing the use and storage of hazardous materials in homes and businesses.

UT-23. Provide for the safe and convenient disposal of hazardous household waste through a permanent and conveniently located collection facility for Bellevue residents.

See also Climate and Environment policies on low impact development, CL-63 to CL-64.

See also Land Use policies related to annexation, LU-49 to LU-52.

See also Climate and Environment policies related to waste management, CL-28 to CL-33.

Solid Waste

UT-24. Promote the recycling of solid waste materials by providing opportunities for convenient recycling and by developing educational materials on recycling, composting and other waste reduction methods.

UT-25. Encourage and actively seek an effective regional approach to solid waste management.

UT-26. Use a public review process in the selection and approval of sites for any disposal facility, to study and consider sensitivity to aesthetics, equitable distribution of burdens and benefits, health effects and the environment.

UT-27. Maintain a safe, cost-effective and responsive solid waste collection system that provides convenient, efficient, environmentally-friendly and visually unobtrusive components and services.

UT-28. Manage solid waste collection to minimize litter and neighborhood disruption.

UT-29. Work with King County to maintain a geographically balanced system of solid waste transfer and disposal facilities and avoid disproportionate impacts to any individual community.

UT-30. Explore transfer and disposal options for the period after the city's current contract with King County terminates in mid-2028.

Wastewater Utility

UT-31. Provide a wastewater disposal system that ensures public health and safety, and protects the environment.

UT-32. Require wastewater connections for all new development, including single family plats, unless otherwise allowed by state or county regulations.

UT-33. Encourage homeowners with septic systems to connect to wastewater systems where available. Allow existing single family homes with septic systems to continue to use septic systems, provided they remain in compliance with Seattle-King County Public Health requirements. If existing septic systems fail to maintain compliance with Seattle-King County Public Health standards and cannot be brought into compliance, homeowners are required to connect to the wastewater system where available.

Storm and Surface Water Utility

UT-34. Provide and maintain a storm and surface water system that controls damage from storms, protects surface water quality, provides for safety and enjoyment, supports fish and wildlife habitat and protects the environment.

UT-35. Participate in regional watershed based efforts with the goals of achieving local drainage basin health and addressing Endangered Species Act issues. Manage the storm and surface water system within a system wide, watershed based context.

UT-36. Design context-appropriate stormwater management facilities.

UT-37. Educate the public about water quality issues.

UT-38. Require the use of low impact development and stormwater best management practices where feasible to manage stormwater runoff, which may result in smaller facilities constructed on- and off-site for flow control, conveyance, and water quality.

See also Climate and Environment policies related to low impact development, CL-63 to CL-64.

Water Utility

UT-39. Provide a cost-effective supply of safe, secure, high quality drinking water that meets the community's water needs in an environmentally responsible manner.

UT-40. Provide a water supply that meets all federal and state drinking water quality standards.

UT-41. Provide reliable water service for domestic use and fire flow protection under normal operations. Proactively mitigate system vulnerabilities to improve performance and service restoration during and after emergencies.

UT-42. Promote conservation and the wise and efficient use of the public water supply and discourage the waste of this valuable resource.

UT-43. Improve the quality and quantity of the water supply of well water users by allowing access to the city water system as contained in the Water System Functional Plan, and provided that at least the fair share costs are paid by the benefiting parties.

Non City-Managed Utilities

General Non City-Managed Utilities

UT-44. Coordinate with non-city utility providers to ensure planning for system growth consistent with the city's Comprehensive Plan and growth forecasts.

See also Economic Development policies related to infrastructure, ED-37 to ED-39.

UT-45. Support new and emerging technologies that would benefit utility service delivery by being sustainable, efficient and viable.

UT-46. Defer to the serving utility the implementation sequence of utility plan components.

UT-47. Coordinate with the appropriate jurisdictions and governmental entities in the planning and implementation of multi-jurisdictional utility facility additions and improvements. Consider regional distribution networks and the efficiency of meeting regional demand.

UT-48. Require effective and timely coordination of all public and private utility activities including trenching and culvert replacements.

UT-49. Inform companies providing utilities such as telecommunications, electricity and natural gas about the schedule for capital projects and opportunities to install infrastructure.

UT-50. Require notification to the city prior to a utility’s maintenance or removal of vegetation in city right-of-way.

UT-51. When implementing street projects, determine whether the relocation of distribution facilities underground is required and the means of financing the relocation.

UT-52. Work with Puget Sound Energy, telecom providers, state regulatory agencies and other responsible parties to develop funding tools that enable mitigation of impacts to vegetation and aesthetics of deploying electrical and telecommunications infrastructure.

UT-53. Require the reasonable screening and/or architecturally compatible integration of all new utility and telecommunication facilities, including equipment support facilities.

UT-54. Encourage directional pruning of trees and phased replacement of unsafe or improperly located vegetation in the right-of-way. Perform pruning and trimming of trees according to professional arboricultural specifications and standards and in recognition of utility clearance standards.

UT-55. Encourage consolidation on existing facilities where reasonably feasible and where such consolidation leads to fewer impacts than construction of separate facilities. Examples of facilities which could be shared are towers, electrical, telephone and light poles, antenna, substation sites, trenches and easements.

UT-56. Coordinate with utility companies for the acquisition, use and enhancement of utility corridors for pedestrian, bicycle and equestrian trails and for wildlife corridors and habitat.

UT-57. Avoid, when reasonably possible, locating overhead lines in greenbelt and open spaces as identified in the Parks and Open Space System Plan.

UT-58. Facilitate the conversion away from fossil fuels to cost-effective and environmentally sensitive technologies and energy sources.

UT-59. Facilitate and encourage conservation of resources.

UT-60. Encourage communication among the city, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) and utilities regulated by the WUTC about the distribution of costs for existing and proposed utility facilities; especially requirements for the undergrounding of transmission, distribution, and communication lines exceeding statewide norms.

UT-61. Encourage system practices intended to minimize the number and duration of interruptions to customer service.

UT-62. Prior to seeking city approval for facilities, encourage utilities service providers to solicit community input and consider the distribution of benefits and burdens to different community groups on the siting of proposed facilities

UT-63. Encourage utility providers to erect limited on-site signage on all sites purchased for future major utility facilities to indicate the utility's intended use of the site.

UT-64. Support federal or state actions that would preserve local government authority to regulate time, manner and place of construction in the right-of-way.

UT-65. Require timely removal of abandoned facilities that are visually intrusive whenever facilities are replaced or upgraded.

Power Utility

UT-66. Work with Puget Sound Energy to provide highly reliable service for Bellevue customers through the planning, siting, building and maintenance of an electrical system that meets the needs of existing and future development.

UT-67. Encourage the public to conserve electrical energy through public education.

UT-68. Require the undergrounding of new permanent electrical distribution lines in coordination with the city and other utilities.

UT-69. Require the undergrounding of existing electrical distribution lines, where feasible and in coordination with the city and other utilities, when a change in use or intensification of an existing use occurs that requires a change in distribution infrastructure.

UT-70. Support neighborhood efforts to form financial arrangements, such as local improvement districts, to cover the non-utility share of project costs for undergrounding electrical lines.

UT-71. Encourage city and utility involvement with regional or statewide agencies when and if they are developing policies regarding exposure to electric and magnetic fields (EMF) or other utility issues.

UT-72. Review new accepted scientific research of potential health impacts associated with electrical and telecommunications facilities and make changes to policies if the situation warrants.

UT-73. Require in the planning, siting, and construction of all electrical facilities, systems, lines, and substations that the electrical utility strike a reasonable balance between potential health effects and the cost and impacts of mitigating those effects by taking reasonable cost-effective steps.

UT-74. Work with Puget Sound Energy to implement the electrical service system serving Bellevue in such a manner that new and expanded transmission and substation facilities minimize the visual impact to the community. Where feasible, electrical facilities should be located away from residential areas when the location will not impact the provision of adequate and reliable service.

UT-75. Require siting analysis through the development review process for new and expanded facilities in residential areas, including a consideration of alternative sites and co-location.

UT-76. Avoid, minimize, and mitigate the visual impacts of new or expanded electrical facilities through the use of land use regulation and performance standards that address siting considerations, architectural design, site screening, landscaping, maintenance, available technologies, aesthetics and other appropriate measures.

UT-77. Discourage new aerial facilities within corridors that have no existing aerial facilities.

UT-78. Encourage the prioritization of restoring electrical service to water and wastewater utility facilities following power outages.

UT-79. Update utility agreements, engage partnerships, and develop policy to encourage timely planning and investments to ensure sufficient grid capacity for electrification and decarbonization.

UT-80. Administer applicable regulations and franchise agreement authority over the Seattle City Light and Olympic Pipeline infrastructure located in Bellevue.

UT-81. Work with Puget Sound Energy to improve the safety and reliability of power infrastructure vulnerable to climate change.

Telecommunications Utility

UT-82. Encourage widespread, affordable, high-speed internet access, including access to competing telecommunications services and new forms of technology to provide the community with choice and to facilitate innovation.

UT-83. Assess the coverage and quality of residential and business access to internet and telecommunication services and explore opportunities to enhance service to areas of need.

UT-84. Ensure a permitting process for telecommunications infrastructure that considers all impacts to the surrounding area.

UT-85. Limit the amount of disturbance to city infrastructure by encouraging co-location of telecommunications conduit in the public right-of-way.

UT-86. Allow new aerial telecommunication lines on existing systems provided that they shall be designed to address visual impacts and are required to be placed underground at the time of undergrounding electrical distribution lines.

UT-87. Require visual integration and screening of telecommunication infrastructure.

UT-88. Minimize visual impacts of wireless communication facilities by encouraging deployment in land use districts in the following preferred and descending order when possible, considering the provider's coverage needs:

1. Nonresidential land use districts, except Transition Areas, and
2. Park and open space areas,
3. Residential and park and open space areas.

UT-89. Minimize visual impacts of wireless communication facilities by encouraging system designs in the following preferred and descending order:

1. Attached to public facility structures, building mounted, or integrated with utility poles, and light standards;
2. Co-located on utility poles and light standards; and
3. Free standing towers.

UT-90. Require applicants for wireless communication facility permits to minimize visual and aesthetic impacts to the extent feasible and consistent with telecommunication customer needs.

UT-91. Require wireless equipment constructed in public rights of way in residential areas to be as small as possible and visually unobtrusive.

UT-92. Encourage wireless equipment to be installed in a manner compatible with other utility functions.

UT-93. For infrastructure opportunities on city property, other than street rights-of-way, encourage the use of appropriate city owned properties for lease to install wireless communications equipment that is compatible with existing city uses of the sites and consistent with land use requirements.

UT-94. Encourage the co-location of telecommunications equipment on city-owned sites to reduce the visual and aesthetic impact of antennas on the community.

UT-95. Periodically review and update wireless facility regulations to respond to changes in technology and community conditions to balance impacts with the need for service.