Clark Public Utilities devotes a tremendous amount of time and resources to keeping the power grid in peak condition, but unfortunately outages are a fact of life.
No matter if they affect one home, a neighborhood or the entire county, the utility is prepared to get the lights back on quickly. But the speed with which it’s restored largely depends on the cause and size of the outage.
About half the outages in the county are caused by trees and limbs. Storms, vehicle accidents and wildlife are responsible for about a fifth. Most are repaired quickly once the cause is identified, but the process goes much faster when customers report an outage.
“We need our customers to report power outages as soon as they can,” said Ben Feliz, transmission and distribution manager at Clark Public Utilities. “They should never assume we know when they’re without power or count on their neighbors to report it. The more reports we get, the sooner we pinpoint the location of the problem and can begin repairs.”
Customers should call the automated outage reporting line at 360-992-8000 or use the mobile-friendly online outage reporting tool.
Utility employees monitor the grid and the outage reports 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No matter the size of the outage, the goal is to get the power restored as safely and as quickly for as many people as possible.
How long it takes to restore power depends on a few things. Public safety is the utility’s top priority. So dangerous conditions always come first, even if they don’t restore power to the largest number of customers.
After public safety, restorations are prioritized based on the number of customers served. That means repairs begin with major infrastructure, including transmission lines or substations — equipment that serves tens of thousands of people — then moves down to neighborhood power lines and transformers, which usually serve five to 30 homes.
35-minute average
Crews work around the clock to respond to outages as they occur and get the lights back on as soon as possible. By all accounts they’re successful. The average Clark Public Utilities outage is repaired in about 35 minutes, far less than the national average of more than two hours.
The rarest and most dramatic outages are weather-related. Major storms can wreak havoc across the supply chain and can disrupt power for hours or even days for some customers.
The utility prepares for those events by monitoring the weather forecast and planning an aggressive response. The communications team also ramps up a public outreach plan to make sure customers are never kept in the dark about important news, hazards or other relevant information.
In addition to its own team of linemen and servicemen, Clark Public Utilities contracts with a number of private companies and has mutual aid agreements in place with multiple regional utilities, all of whom will jump into action if asked.
“We also send crews to assist utilities during major events — sometimes it’s to neighboring counties, sometimes they go across the country,” Feliz said. “Fortunately, we haven’t had to ask utilities for assistance in our community in a very long time.”
Energy Adviser is written by Clark Public Utilities. Send questions to ecod@clarkpud.com or to Energy Adviser, c/o Clark Public Utilities, P.O. Box 8900, Vancouver, WA 98668.
