Outage Recovery, Rain or Shine [VIDEO]
Jefferson PUD line crews, dispatchers, substation staff, and support teams worked through the night and continue working today to restore power to
customers. Coordinating repairs during a storm that impacts such a wide area is especially challenging. Branches and downed trees are widespread, and every outage—whether it affects 600 customers in Port Townsend or 15 customers in Discovery Bay—requires crews to quickly assess conditions, prioritize safety, and ensure they have the right resources to complete the work.
During active storms, when high winds continue to batter the region, crews may first respond to an outage location to make the area safe and document the damage before moving on to the next call. As they patrol power lines, line crews stay in constant communication with dispatch to report the cause and scope of outages and to coordinate repairs when conditions are safe or when additional support is available.
Some outages can be resolved quickly, such as removing a branch that has fallen across multiple power lines. Others are more complex. In situations like the one shown in the images below, both the line and its neutral are down, requiring crews to work together to rebuild an entire span of wire before service can be restored.
We are grateful to our friends at Mason PUD #1, a fellow mutual aid utility, for assisting with outage recovery here in Jefferson County.
