As part of our wildfire mitigation plan, Lewis County PUD monitors elevated fire danger or red flag warnings issued by the National Weather Service. During times of elevated fire danger, we modify the operations of our electric system. This aids in fire protection but can increase the duration of power outages (Lewis County PUD’s plan does not include scheduled power shutdowns). When outages occur during these conditions, crews must patrol all lines in areas experiencing outages before energizing power lines. We realize this makes the outage restoration process longer, but it is a necessary step to prevent fires.
Generally, Lewis County PUD includes estimated times of restoration (ETR) on our outage map (Visit our Outage Map page) when they are available. During severe storms such as this one, it is very difficult to make accurate estimates and often we are unable to give ETRs until crews are able to get into the area and assess the damage. For this storm in particular, it was also difficult to provide ETRs because of the transmission line outages, which required correction by other utilities before power could be restored. This was further complicated by the fire mitigation steps mentioned earlier.
To minimize the risk of trees contacting our overhead lines, KEC has an aggressive vegetation management plan. We trim rights-of-way to provide for the minimum clearance distance of 30 feet or 15 feet on either side of the power line. We also ask members to call and report any trees they see close to our primary lines or dead trees that may fall on our lines.
KEC will remove trees threatening our lines at no cost to landowners. KEC does not trim service lines (the line from KEC’s transformer to your house). That is the homeowner’s responsibility. We will come out at no charge and drop the service line so the member can trim service line trees safely.
Currently, more than half of our power lines have been built underground. Almost all new construction is also built underground. Underground lines can be three times the cost of overhead lines. After the wind and snowstorms of 2015, KEC was awarded more than $10 million in special grant funding from FEMA to convert approximately 50 miles of our most problematic overhead lines to underground.
KEC is currently working to apply for additional FEMA funding to convert more lines to underground.