Several other utility companies have instituted similar plans including Rocky Mountain Power which serves Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho.Ĭolorado Springs Utilities does not have a planned power outage program. Temporary power outages could put people in danger too, but Hofmann said sparking the next big wildfire would be worse. “So we have consultants,” Hofmann said, “a meteorological consultant as well as a fire risk consultant that help us determine the risks in those areas.” That’s when there’s a risk of those lines sparking flames like we saw in California’s deadly Camp fire last year. Hofmann said the plan - called the Public Safety Outage Management Plan - is a last resort for when factors like lightning, wind, and extreme heat arise in vulnerable locations near power lines. “Utilities have to adapt,” he said, “so it just finally reached a head where it was like listen we’ve gotta move to this.” Chris Hofmann, director of grid reliability, said he’s watched wildfire risks grow over the years. Melaleuca employees donate food, presents for regi.Several utility companies in the West have announced they will institute power blackouts in areas with high fire risk when conditions are particularly bad.Idaho Falls places 22nd on list of 'most exciting'.Holiday ramblings from a flu-addled eggnoggin'.About 3,500 customers were affected, but it was necessary to keep the system from crashing when Rocky Mountain Power attempted to restore its service. At the peak of the outage, around 9:45 a.m., the authority had instructed Idaho Falls Power to shed 35 megawatts, almost 30 percent of the electricity being used city-wide at the time. Idaho Falls Power customers experienced scattered outages between 7:45 a.m. The cold that barreled in Tuesday night created conditions that could have caused an even larger and longer outage.Īs a result, the Balancing Authority - which controls the electric grid that serves power providers in the area through the Goshen Substation - ordered power interrupted until the system's stability could be assured. At 5:11 a.m., the utility was required to interrupt service to some 49,000 Idaho customers because a circuit breaker at the substation was out of service this week for critical maintenance. What happened Wednesday in eastern Idaho was caused by complications at Rocky Mountain Power's Goshen Substation near Firth. "Developing a smarter, more resilient electric grid is one step that can be taken now to ensure the welfare of the millions of current and future Americans who depend on the grid for reliable power," the report said. Seventy percent of these transmission lines and power transformers are more than 25 years old.
The report argues for the need to update the nation's electric grid: high-voltage transmission lines connected to power plants, local distribution systems, and power management and control systems. In 2012, when 8.5 million people lost power due to Superstorm Sandy, those costs rose to as high as $52 billion. The hits come from lost output and wages, spoiled inventory, delayed production and damage to the electric grid. economy an average of $18 billion to $33 billion a year, according to a White House report released last summer. Outages caused by severe weather cost the U.S. If you could hear over your chattering teeth, that was money that was going up the flue during Wednesday's power outage in eastern Idaho.