Avista restores power to most customers

Avista crews have restored power to about 93% of customers originally impacted by Wednesday’s windstorm. 

As of 7 p.m. Friday, about 3,261 customers remain without power across Avista’s service territory, with around 227 separate outage incidents still active, a press release said.

Avista has increased resources in the field. Today’s response includes more than 50 Avista line crews, 17 contract crews and 16 vegetation management crews, supported by hundreds of Avista employees across the company.

"While early restoration work often brings power back to larger groups of customers at once, remaining outages can involve heavier damage and more individual repairs — like downed lines and damaged equipment in areas with difficult access," a press release said.

Crews must often clear debris first, then make repairs and rebuild portions of the system. Recent snowfall has added challenges by slowing travel and making some work sites harder to access safely, the release said.

“We understand how stressful and disruptive it can be to be without power, particularly when the weather is making things even more challenging,” said Heather Rosentrater, Avista president and CEO. “Please know that our crews are working tirelessly, around the clock, to restore power as quickly and safely as possible."

The estimated restoration time for the Coeur d'Alene area was 6 p.m. Saturday. For Kellogg, it was 4 p.m. Sunday and for St. Maries, it was noon Sunday.