Power Restored Christmas Day to Clearwater Power Members Experiencing an Extended Outage

Clearwater Power and contracted partners continued working during the Christmas holiday to restore power to an additional 250 members who had been without power since early Wednesday morning, Dec. 17.

 

The outage was caused when 80+ mile-per-hour winds hit the region. Extremely wet soils and severe windstorm toppled trees and downed power poles causing significant damage to critical infrastructure. Damage to equipment, substations and every main distribution line was sustained, impacting the entire Clearwater Power electric system, all at once. Fallen trees blocked access to roads and poles and additional outages from snow and wind added to needed repairs and slowed progress. 

 

“The incredibly beautiful, but incredibly rugged landscape we serve brings challenges when it comes to providing power to our members,” said Telly Stanger, chief executive officer for Clearwater Power. “Clearwater Power works to maintain rights-of-way and improve the reliability of our system year-round. Still, when we experience such a significant and severe weather event like this, it brings those challenges to the forefront. Our rural members are resilience and wonderfully supportive of our crews and the challenges they faced with this devastating storm,” said Stanger.

 

Clearwater Power serves 3 to 4 customers per mile of power line along more than 3,000 miles of lines and other infrastructure webbing out across the most rural parts of the counties it serves. The cooperative extends into 11 counties across 3 states, covering more than 5,000 square miles.

 

“We understand the importance of power in all our lives. We are grateful for our committed employees, contracted partners and cooperative network who sent crews to our aid. We needed to add to our in-house workforce, and we were able to bring in four times the number of linemen normally needed to service our system,” Stanger said. 

 

Contracted and out-of-area cooperative line and vegetation management crews joined our Clearwater Power-employed linemen who continued to methodically restore power, day after day.

 

Crews will continue working through the weekend to replace poles and make repairs necessary for the integrity of the system ahead of forecasted snow and colder temperatures. The remaining outages, which include homes needing additional repair by licensed electricians before meters can be safely energized and unoccupied cabins, will be addressed in the coming weeks as operations return to normal.

 

Any Clearwater Power member experiencing power issues or concerns, should please call 208-743-1501.  This line is monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.