Idaho Power cut off customers’ power for public safety reasons for the first time in its history Wednesday as storms descended on the Boise area.
Idaho Power spokesperson Brad Bowlin said electricity was turned off after weather created potentially dangerous conditions that could lead to wildfires if power was left on.
Those without power were given little indication of when their electricity would return amid a historic heat wave that has seen the temperature top 99 degrees for a record 17 straight days. Some affected Idaho Power users received a text Wednesday evening saying the outages were estimated to last 8-16 hours.
“The length of an outage varies based on storm damage and the time it takes to patrol the line to ensure we can safely re-energize it,” Idaho Power said in one text to customers.
Idaho Power’s online outage map showed more than 8,000 customers across the north and east edges of Boise had their power intentionally shut off.
“We appreciate people’s patience, and we know there’s no great time to have a power outage,” Bowlin said.
Idaho Power’s public safety power shutoff plan, presented to Boise City Council last month, calls for preemptive power shutoffs to prevent fires.
Bowlin said a warning of potential public safety shutoffs was sent to about 55,000 customers Wednesday morning, the Idaho Statesman previously reported. Customers were most likely to see shutoffs in the Boise Foothills, southern Ada County and rural communities like Emmett, Homedale and Parma.
Thunderstorms with rain and lightning moved though the Treasure Valley at about 5 p.m., but it was strong winds that were causing Idaho Power the biggest concern, Bowlin said. Wind can cause trees to fall on power lines, knocking them down and causing sparks in dry areas.
Readings from the Military Reserve trails showed winds at 59 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
“We’re just constantly monitoring the storm systems as they’re moving through,” Bowlin said. “We’re looking at a combination of fuel conditions, proximity to neighborhoods, and also the high winds. High winds are really what’s driving it.”
Bowlin didn’t know how many customers experienced public safety power shutoffs. He said Idaho Power would have to wait for a “post-mortem” to sift through how many had power turned off compared to those whose power was taken out by weather or fire.
The outage map showed thousands more customers in the Boise area without power unexpectedly after the storm, with many of those getting their service restored within a few hours.
Safety shutoffs are conducted through a combination of manual and automated means, Bowlin said.
“We have set our lines to a higher sensitivity setting so that they’re more likely to trip off in the event of wind,” Bowlin said. “That’s just another protective situation, so we don’t have live power lines falling on the ground. Those lines are set to a more sensitive setting, so they’ll trip off more easily than they would in a normal scenario. So a lot of those weather-related outages you’re seeing could be the result of those changes.”
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