Puget Sound Energy crews Thursday morning are working under extremely difficult conditions. Trees and limbs, weighed down by ice-encrusted snow, are breaking off and damaging power lines, resulting in new power outages to tens of thousands of homes and businesses.
Due to hazardous field conditions with falling limbs and trees, some PSE crews on Thursday morning have needed to stay clear from working near trees, impeding damage assessment and repair work. Crews will resume their work as soon as it’s safe to do so.
As of 1 p.m., PSE is responding to more than 500 outage locations affecting approximately 200,000 customers. Hardest hit areas are in Thurston and Pierce counties and parts of King County. Since heavy snows began on Tuesday morning, PSE has restored power to approximately 51,000 customers in Western Washington.
PSE has requested 140 additional power line crews from other parts of the country to assist with repairs and restoration work, which is expected to extend well into the weekend.
We have 75 four-person power line crews, 27 two-person tree crews and 76 servicemen available and assisting with restoration efforts.
We can’t make full estimate of how long the restoration effort will take until the ice and snow storm – and the damage it’s causing — ends and our crews can make a comprehensive assessment of the damage. But right, we think it will be 3 to 4 days…maybe longer.
We appreciate our customers’ patience as we work to repair power as quickly as possible, with safety our top priority.
People who need to report a power outage, should call Puget Sound Energy at 1-888-225-5773 or login to My.PSE.com.
Outages Listed by City and ZIP Code
Current outage data is available from the PSE Service Alert: Text Version page. These tables show the extent of outages by city and by ZIP code.
Stay clear of all downed power lines. Do not go near a downed power line. If you see a downed power line, assume it is still energized and dangerous. Notify PSE at 1-888-225-5773 or call 911 if you see a downed power line.
Talk to us
Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.
To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.
