PUD responds to power outages

Snowfall leans on trees, brings down lines Feb. 4

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Snowfall brought power outages to as many as 800 customers of the Jefferson County Public Utility District on Feb. 4.

Shortly before 7 a.m., the Jefferson PUD Twitter account reported crews were responding to outages on Marrowstone Island, in Quilcene and on the Coyle Peninsula.

Shortly before 8 a.m., PUD reported  a partial loss of power to the substation on Kearney Street in Port Townsend, leaving 800 customers in the city without power and requiring an extra crew to be called in.

The PUD issued an 8:40 a.m. update, clarifying it was dealing with 10 different outages affecting 708 customers. Crews  isolated a downed neutral line on Benton and Blaine streets in Port Townsend and restored power to about 335 customers while another crew was in route to make more repairs.

By 10:40 a.m., the PUD reported all the Port Townsend outages had been restored, but 290 customers were still without power in south Jefferson County and on Marrowstone.

By 11:41 a.m., the PUD reported power had been restored to most of Marrowstone, and crews were working to restore power to the remaining outages in south county.

“We’ve had a crew working since 5 p.m. (Feb. 3) on the snow- and wind-related outages,” said Will O’Donnell, communications manager for the PUD. “Yesterday, heavy, wet snow led to trees in lines. Then, of course, temperatures dropped and the wind picked up, leading to more trees and branches hitting power lines.”

As of 12:09 p.m., O’Donnell said in an email the PUD was wrapping up “most of the county’s outages,” but were still investigating the source of the outages in east Quilcene and on the tip of the Coyle Peninsula.

By 12:40 p.m, the PUD reported a tree in the power lines near Center and Egg & I roads had led to power outages for 101 customers nearby, bringing the totals to nine separate outages and 315 customers without power.

“One crew is repairing a down line at Fairmont and the other is heading to the Quilcene area,” the PUD account tweeted.

And by 1:45 p.m., power was restored to east Quilcene, reducing the count to seven outages with about 200 customers out at the time.

“Our guys are doing their best to get power back to every customer who’s lost it,” O’Donnell added. “Our linemen are out in the snow and the cold, doing everything they can to keep our customers warm.”

In July 2016, Jim Parker, then general manager of the PUD, suggested tripling the PUD’s tree-trimming budget, from $400,000 to $1.2 million, due to “ideal conditions” of warm, wet weather causing the trees to grow faster.

In December 2018, Larry Dunbar, Parker’s successor as general manager, asked staff to re-inspect transmission corridors for potential tree problems as soon as possible in the wake of “widespread outages” in November, and he described the prevention of large-scale outages as a “top priority.”