PSE November Snow Storm Update

Puget Sound Energy shared the following information with us early this afternoon to help businesses and residents prepare for the winter storm that's expected to start as early as 1 p.m. today. This is the message in its entirety. It has not been edited except for formatting.

"With today’s snowy weather and the potential for winds this afternoon and evening, below are the steps PSE is taking to prepare for possible outages. We’ll also be posting this to the PSE Alerts Banner on pse.com. Also, I have included information on how PSE restoration process.

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Preparing for outages

• The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning and a high wind warning for parts of our service area now through the afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 30.

 

• We’re closely watching the forecast, as wind and heavy snow can cause tree branches to fall into power lines. Our crews are prepared and ready to deploy with assignments when outages occur and as soon as it’s safe to do so.

 

• As we prepare for storm conditions, we encourage our customers to do the same:
  • Make sure to have emergency supplies on hand at home and in your vehicle, such as extra batteries, flashlights and food.
  • Have a battery-powered radio ready to go.
  • Charge cell phones and mobile devices in case the power goes out.
  • Avoid opening and closing refrigerators and freezers more often than necessary. A closed refrigerator will stay cold for up to 12 hours.
  • Turn off lights and unplug all appliances and sensitive electronic equipment, such as computers, to prevent an overload on your circuits when electric service is restored. Leave one light on to let you know when service returns.
  • Download the myPSE app to track and report outages, check status and get estimated restoration times, or visit pse.com/outagemap.
  • Get additional information on ways you can prepare and more about how power gets restored at:
    • https://www.pse.com/outage/storm-resources
    • https://www.pse.com/outage/how-power-gets-restored

 

• Safety first:
  • Never touch or go within 35 feet of downed power lines because they might be energized. Call PSE at 1-888-225-5773 or 911 to report problems.
  • Do not use a charcoal or gas grill to cook indoors. Never use a natural gas range for heating, or charcoal as an indoor heating source. This can cause a buildup of poisonous carbon monoxide gas.
• If you choose to use a portable home generator, read the manufacturer’s instructions for the safe operation of the generator. Do not operate generators indoors or in enclosed spaces to avoid the build-up of carbon monoxide.
  • If you’re using portable heaters, keep them away from furniture, draperies and other flammable materials.
  • Always use flashlights instead of candles.

https://www.pse.com/en/outage/how-power-gets-restored
 
Region-wide outages
Region-wide outages are typically caused by significant weather events. In the Pacific Northwest, it's most common for region-wide outage events to be caused by fall and winter wind and snow storms, but other causes could be earthquakes, flooding, wildfires or other natural disasters. Outages may impact several thousand to several hundred thousand customers.

Beginning of the outage event
Regional storm bases and our Emergency Coordination Center open to support crew and resource coordination, response strategy and internal and external communication.

Assessing damage
As soon as conditions allow and it’s safe to begin field activities, our damage assessors drive to reported outage locations across our service area to:

• Identify potential safety hazards (e.g., downed power lines)
• Gain visibility of the damage and assess severity
• Report back to the regional storm base with details on the types of crew and equipment needed to restore power

Damage assessment is also a critical step to help us develop estimated restoration times for customers. In a region-wide outage event, damage assessment can take multiple days to fully complete.

Storm response plan established
Information from the damage assessors is used by the storm bases and Emergency Coordination Center to determine resources needed, outage restoration prioritization and other response strategies.

Outage restoration prioritization

• First, repair crews focus on restoring power to essential services such as hospitals, water/waste water systems, and transportation. Priority power restoration also goes to high-voltage transmission lines that provide power to substations serving large numbers of customers in a broad geographic area.
• Next, crews focus on repairing damage to distribution and service lines – the lines that directly serve homes and businesses.
• Outage restoration prioritization is constantly evolving as we continue to gain knowledge of the situation and respond to emerging issues.

Restoration efforts continue 24/7
Our crews and outage response personnel work around the clock until all customers have their power restored.

How does PSE estimate when my power will be restored?
Each region-wide outage event is unique, and estimated times of restoration (ETRs) are developed based on the following factors: number of predicted outage locations, damage severity, resource allocations, active weather and access challenges. As our field teams gain boots-on-the-ground visibility, we add and update ETRs on the outage map. At times, more system damage can occur due to ongoing active weather, and ETRs may need to be updated. There are three general stages of ETRs:

1. ETR is To Be Determined (TBD): During a region-wide outage event, we don’t add ETRs to the outage map until damage assessment is well underway. The time required to establish ETRs varies based on field conditions and the severity of the event. In large outage events, it can take 24–48 hours to establish regional ETRs.

2. Regional ETR: The date/time we expect most customers in a given region to have their power restored. Many customers will be restored sooner than the regional ETR; some customers may have their power restored after. While regional ETRs are not specific to individual outages, they are general timeframes for restoration that help our customers plan. We strive to share regional ETRs within the first 24–48 hours of a large-scale outage event.

3. Outage-specific ETR: Outage-specific ETRs – provided by our field personnel – are established when we have adequate field visibility and a crew assigned to restore your power. Sometimes, outage-specific ETRs are updated based on additional information gathered during repairs. 

We understand ETR information is important so our customers can plan. Please know we work to provide the most accurate information as quickly as possible, and we thank you for your patience as we move through the process.