(9/2) UPDATE 7:30 AM:
HEA has restored power to all but 2402 consumers. There are approximately 78 outages remaining.
UPDATE 8:30 PM:
HEA continues to make progress restoring power. Currently, 7000 members are without power. It is going to be a really long night for HEA and contracted lineman will work through the night to restore power to as many members as possible. It is still pretty rough outside, remember for your safety please DO NOT APPROACH ANY DOWNED WIRE OR TREES.
UPDATE 5:05 PM:
9,000 members are without power and roughly 100 individual outages north of Clam Gulch.
HEA has secured additional contract crews to help. Trees are blowing into the line as fast as their lineman can clear them. HEA is getting reports that trees and wire have fallen across roads. As a reminder, please DO NOT APPROACH ANY DOWNED WIRE OR TREES for your safety. HEA is working as fast as possible to restore your power. This windstorm has impacted the entire region and HEA asks for your patience.
2:45pm UPDATE:
More and more residents of the Kenai are without power as the winds continue to hammer Kenai, Soldotna, Sterling, and Nikiski. As of 2:45, nearly 4,000 homes now are without power. Homer Electric Association crews continue working tirelessly to restore outage locations. Several crews are coming back from mandatory rest periods after working 24 hours straight Thursday night and into Friday.
STORY:
Homer Electric Association is responding to power outages affecting more than 2,000 members across central Kenai Peninsula areas, due to strong, sustained winds.
“So actually, it started yesterday morning, about this time yesterday morning,” said Keriann Baker, spokesperson for Homer Electric. “When the winds kind of picked up, and it’s not just Homer Electric, if you go north, we know some of the northern utilities on the Railbelt are also having some pretty significant outages as well.”
As of 10am Friday Morning more than 2,100 HEA members were without power spread across Nikiski, Ciechanski Road on K-Beach, Soldotna, and Sterling areas. HEA crews worked through the night, the company is currently working on getting contract crews from Anchorage to help. In addition, the entire Railbelt saw outages impacting over 10,000 people with line crews north of the peninsula also working through the night.
“So, for our part we had roughly since yesterday morning we’ve had 6000 people without power, Baker said. “The crews worked 24 hours straight; they’ve closed 44 outages since yesterday morning; they’ve restored power to about 4000 people. Right now we’ve got about 2000 people out.”
Utilities have work limit policies in place to ensure the safety of their lineman, requiring that they work no more than 24 straight hours without taking a mandatory break for sleep. According to Baker, HEA is actively seeking contract crews from other parts of the state to assist in restoring power to peninsula members, but therein again, they are running into the issue of power outages across the state.
“Last I saw, there was 8000 out in the Anchorage Bowl area and another 2600 in the Valley,” said Baker. “We’ve got three different sets of crews working right now. We’ve got outages still in Nikiski, K Beach, and Sterling area, and then we are also trying to call in some contract crews as well to help us., but we’re competing obviously. Everyone’s trying to [get contract crews] because other utilities in the North have, you know, the same [24-hour work limit] policy.”
HEA asks for patience and understanding as they work as quickly as possible to restore power. They ask that people be cautious in areas without power, and not approach downed power lines.
Visit the HEA outage map, and tune into KSRM 920 for regular updates on the current power outage status.
If you are without power at this time, please call 1-888-868-8243.
