Utilities return power to majority of customers left in the dark by windstorm

After Wednesday night’s windstorm brought down numerous trees and caused thousands of residents to lose power, Avista crews have been working to restore electricity to affected homes and neighborhoods.

A press release from Avista said that 86% of customers had their power back as of 10 a.m. on Friday. The windstorm caused approximately 61,000 customers to lose power and as of 10 a.m. on Friday, only about 8,495 residents were still without power, with “306 unique outage incidents.” 

The release detailed how 47 Avista line crews, 14 contract crews and 16 vegetation management crews have been chipping away at the restoration efforts over the last couple of days, including through Thursday’s early morning snowstorm. 

“New snowfall poses additional challenges to our restoration efforts,” the release said. “One power pole can take up to eight hours to replace.”

Due to the magnitude of devastation and the recent snowfall, the release said some customers in Colville and the Silver Valley region may not have power back until Sunday.

Most of the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane area is expected to see full power restoration by 10 p.m. on Friday. Power in St. Maries may not be fully restored until Saturday at 10 p.m.

“Customers should treat all power lines as if they are energized,” the press release said. “Customers should stay away from any downed power lines, not attempt to remove limbs from downed or sagging power lines, and should not drive over power lines. If customers see a downed power line, they should call 911 immediately and then Avista at (800) 227-9187 to report its location.”

This story is developing