Electric cooperative crews in the Pacific Northwest were rapidly restoring power Wednesday after a fierce windstorm blew through parts of the region Tuesday night, knocking out power to more than 45,000 consumer-members.
In Washington state, Inland Power & Light Company reported about 9,000 of its 49,000 customers without power as of mid-afternoon Wednesday, down from more than 14,000 initial outages after the storm brought wind gusts of up to 70 mph to many areas.
“Our incredible teams are on the frontlines, working around the clock during major outages to bring the lights back on for you as swiftly as possible,” the Spokane-based co-op said on Facebook. “Your power is our priority!”
The wind gusts, which reached more than 130 mph in the mountains, came in the wake of flash fooding across parts of the Seattle/King County area, where two levees have failed this week after heavy rains.
Just outside Washington state, in Rathdrum, Idaho, Kootenai Electric Cooperative also sustained widespread damage from the strong winds.
The co-op’s outage map showed about 7,300 of its approximately 30,000 members without power as of late Wednesday afternoon.
“Due to continued high winds across our service territory, additional damage to our system is occurring,” the co-op said on Facebook. “As a reminder, all members should plan for extended power outages … We currently have all available crews and contractors working to restore power. Damage is widespread with many broken poles and downed trees.”
In Oregon, West Oregon Electric Cooperative in Vernonia was hit especially hard, losing power to 4,292 of its 4,647 customers.
“Following last night’s windstorm, our crews are working system-wide to restore power,” the co-op said Wednesday on Facebook. “They worked through the night and are continuing restoration efforts this morning. There are multiple scattered outages across our service territory. Due to fallen trees, debris, and downed lines, restoration will take time. We appreciate your patience as crews work safely to assess the damage and restore power.”
Consumers Power Inc. in Philomath reported about 3,000 of its 23,000-plus members were without power Wednesday afternoon, down from more than 5,000 outages earlier in the day.
“CPI line crews are continuing efforts to assess damage and restore power to affected members,” the co-op told members on its website. “We appreciate your patience and understanding as our crews continue their work to safely restore service to all affected members.”
Lane Electric Cooperative reported about 3,400 outages Wednesday afternoon, down from a peak of nearly 5,000. The Eugene-based co-op serves about 14,000 members.
“Lane Electric’s entire 16-man crew has been out since early this morning, working through patrols on hundreds of miles of line. Roughly 1,400 members have been restored,” the co-op said Wednesday on Facebook. “We expect restoration to extend throughout the day and, in areas with more substantial damage, into tomorrow.”
Salem Electric reported about 12,000 of its 18,000-plus members without electricity at the outage peak early Wednesday, but the co-op had restored power to everyone by about 10 a.m. and was planning to send crews to help Consumers Power.
“Thank you to the crews working in the middle of the night!” member Sam Massingale wrote on the co-op’s Facebook page as the lights came back on in her neighborhood.
Overall outages affecting consumers of all types of electric utilities were reported at nearly 231,000 in Washington and nearly 131,000 in Oregon as of Wednesday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us.
Erin Kelly is a staff writer for NRECA.