The Process of Power Restoration

Our top priorities during any storm event is public safety and the safety of our teams in the field.

Storms present a unique challenge for the utility involving multiple line crews, warehousing, dispatch, metering team working as flaggers and ‘bird dogs’ (assisting with providing materials and locations for out-of-area crews), communications outreach, and much more. Below is a generalized look at outage response by the PUD during a large storm event. Fortunately, our operations team has mitigated many potential large-scale outage events due to transmission line loss with our tree trimming plan. Our substation team also functions as dispatch during storm events. Substation staff carefully tracks outages, working with line crews in the field and switching power as needed to re-energize as many customers as possible.

When the wind is howling there is always danger in the field.

Darkness, sleet, rain, driving winds and large equipment all make for a challenging and potentially hazardous work environment. Line crews must make their best determination in the field during any storm to keep themselves and their team safe. Some time, depending upon the repairs needed, this can mean waiting for conditions to calm and/or daylight to provide a safe work environment.

During an outage event, we greatly appreciate your patience as crews respond and for your understanding when they may be called off a repair to help a neighbor in a potentially hazardous situation.