VIDEO: Oregon Utility Companies Begin Power Cuts amid Wildfire Threat, 40K Possibly Affected

Oregon’s Portland General Electric (PGE) and Pacific Power are cutting power in several counties amid a high wind and wildfire threat, affecting approximately 40,000 people.

PGE’s shutoff began early Friday. Power was cut in the Mt. Hood area, the Columbia River Gorge, Silverdale/Corbett and Silver Falls, Oregon Live reported.

PGE’s estimated shutoffs would occur throughout the day in Estacada, Oregon City, Scotts Mills, Portland West Hills, Tualatin Mountains, Northwest Hills, Central West Hills, and Southern West Hills.

In a social media post Wednesday, PGE said “Forecasts are calling for wind and weather that may threaten our ability to safely operate the electrical grid in some areas,” and warned of the probable public safety power shutoff (PSPS).

Power cuts occurred in certain areas to decrease the chance of a downed power line igniting or contributing to a wildfire.

According to PGE, crew members were “standing by, and as weather conditions allow, will begin to physically inspect power lines and equipment and make any repairs necessary to safely restore power.”

Pacific Power estimated cuts in Douglas County, Linn County, and Marion County early Friday while residents in Lincoln, Tillamook, and Polk counties would experience the outage at 10 a.m., according to the Oregon Live article.

“Some 40,000 customers of the two companies could see their power turned off. The companies said they expect power to be restored by Saturday evening or Sunday morning, but that the timeline could change based on weather conditions and damage to power lines,” the outlet continued.

Pacific Power opened community resource centers that would remain open from 8:00 a.m. until late Friday and Saturday:

Meanwhile, tens of thousands prepared for the impending outages following dry conditions on Thursday which posed a risk for wildfires, according to KATU.

Resident Nasser Rassouli told the outlet he was familiar with outages during the winter months but not over the summer.

“Open the windows to promote air flow in the house, have your blinds down and do your best. Don’t open the fridge as many times as you usually do. There’s not much we can do if we don’t have a choice,” he commented.