220 Jewett Blvd, PO Box 218, White Salmon, WA 98672 | 509.493.2112
KPUD crews completed their work on Jan. 28 -- 10 days after they began stitching the county's transmission system back together. With the exception of some irrigation pumps and a half dozen customers that had damaged service entrances, everyone in the county finally got their electricity back.
"It's been quite the week," said Jim Smith, general manager of the KPUD. Smith reported that re-energizing the county was a result of a herculean effort from his employees, some of whom worked 16-hour shifts in order to expedite the process. During the outage, Smith stated that some employees worked 36 hours straight.
At one point during the outage, which at times left more than 10,000 customers without power, the KPUD had 17 crews of two to five people working to get electricity flowing through the lines again. Usually, the KPUD only has three crews at its disposal. The extra help came from Clallam, Franklin, Benton and Cowlitz County PUDs, as well as private contractors.
Despite the long hours and massive workforce, residents in and around Trout Lake and Glenwood remained without power for five days and others sat in the dark for nine. Smith explained that the deep snow and thousands of downed trees mantled with ice made it difficult for crews to work as quickly as they would have liked. If not for the thaw on Saturday, Smith speculated that the damage from the storms could have been markedly worse. He estimated that 60 poles had to be replaced and many more had to be repaired.
Smith said the last time he remembered this many customers losing power was in 1996, when winter storms pounded the area, dumping snow that would later contribute to the record-breaking floods of that same year.
Since the county and the state implemented a state of emergency, the KPUD plans on submitting paperwork to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in hopes of getting reimbursed for the costs of restoring power. Smith estimated that the total costs could be up to $2 million, but FEMA won't pay everything, if it even pays anything.
"We will not recover 100 percent of the costs," Smith said. "I guarantee that."
The last time the county was reimbursed by FEMA, Smith noted, it recovered 75 percent of its costs. That was in 2006 and Smith suspected that federal budget woes would prevent the KPUD from recovering as much. He also mentioned that if FEMA did not reimburse enough money, the KPUD would have to look for other options to recoup its costs, which could include rate increases.
For the most part, crew members remained out of harms way as they tried to restore power in dangerous conditions. Smith reported that a KPUD worker sprained an ankle slipping on the ice, a Clallam PUD worker fell off a pole (but only sustained minor injuries) and a Franklin PUD worker scratched his leg when a chainsaw sliced through his chaps, but everyone else got out unscathed.
"Considering how many hours crews worked, I am astounded," Smith said, in expressing surprise and relief at the small number of injuries.
Smith also applauded the efforts of KPUD workers who worked long hours at their desks to field calls from customers. He also wanted to thank law enforcement officials, search and rescue teams, county road crews and community members who all contributed to the winter clean-up effort.
"I am very proud of them," he beamed. "Everyone did a great job."
