Avista announces power restored to 75% of affected households

About 17,550 Avista Utilities customers are still without power as of 10 a.m. Thursday, with more than 559 unique outage incidents, according to an Avista news release.

Avista crews have been working non-stop to restore power to approximately 80,000 customers originally impacted by Wednesday’s windstorm.

Approximately 75% of customers have been restored. Thursday, all available resources continue working to restore customer outages, including over 45 Avista line crews, 36 contract crews and 30 vegetation management crews.

With the majority of assessments complete, estimated restoration times are now available for most customers. 

Crews continue to work around the clock to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. Additional contract crews arrived this morning and are assisting in Avista's restoration efforts.

Wednesday’s windstorm caused widespread damage to Avista’s infrastructure. The moisture on the ground caused by the recent rain combined with strong winds caused trees and vegetation to come into contact with power lines and poles, pulling them to the ground. 

After the winds died down, Avista crews patrolled hundreds of miles of line on foot, vehicle and helicopter navigating treacherous terrain and fallen trees and debris.

The remaining repairs will be time-consuming with hundreds of poles and miles of wire impacted across the system. One power pole can take up to eight hours to replace. 

Given the magnitude of devastation in certain areas, Avista determined that some customers in the Silver Valley may not have power until Sunday.

Estimated power restoration times

Coeur d'Alene: Saturday for 2,600 customers

Kellogg: Sunday for 6,000 customers

St. Maries: Saturday for 5,000 customers