SPOKANE, Wash. – Avista crews continue working to restore power after a windstorm left thousands of customers without electricity.
As of Thursday afternoon, power had been restored to approximately 86% of affected customers, according to Avista. About 11,875 customers were still without service.
Most remaining outages are in northern Idaho, where restoration is expected by Sunday. More than 350 personnel — including Avista line crews, contract crews and vegetation management crews — are assigned to the effort.
Avista President and CEO Heather Rosentrater expressed gratitude for customers’ patience during the restoration process.
“We recognize how disruptive this outage has been and the immense challenges caused by this historic windstorm for our customers,” said Rosentrater. “I want to express my sincere gratitude for your patience as our teams work tirelessly to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.”
Avista is using foot patrols, vehicles, helicopters and drones to assess damage and speed restoration. The storm caused significant infrastructure damage, with numerous poles and wires affected.
Customers can help by turning on porch lights once power is restored and by inspecting service equipment for damage. Repairs to customer-owned equipment must be completed by a licensed electrician before Avista can reconnect service.
Avista advises customers to treat all power lines as energized and to report downed lines to 911 and Avista. Customers using generators should operate them outdoors and away from doors and windows to prevent carbon monoxide buildup.
