Early this morning, Flathead Electric Cooperative’s (FEC) wholesale power provider, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), made FEC aware of an emergency shut down of one of their main delivery into FEC’s system which caused power outages across Lake Blaine, Many Lakes, and the Echo Lake areas.
11:45 AM Update
Early this morning, Flathead Electric Cooperative’s (FEC) wholesale power provider, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), made FEC aware of an emergency shut down of one of their main delivery into FEC’s system which caused power outages across Lake Blaine, Many Lakes, and the Echo Lake areas. It is not known when this main delivery point will be re-energized by BPA.
In the interim, FEC is proactively managing this situation to the best of our abilities by re-distributing power from other areas of our service territory. For example, power that would normally come from this main delivery point to Echo Lake is now coming from another area managed by Flathead Electric.
The extremely cold weather is creating additional challenges in distributing load across our system. Until BPA is able to restore their delivery point, FEC needs our members’ assistance to reduce demand on the system.
If you live in the Bigfork, Somers, and east Flathead Valley areas, FEC needs your assistance to reduce demand on the system. Please reduce your unnecessary electric needs as soon as possible (even if you don’t currently have power because it will help us get power restored faster):
Ways you can help:
- Turn your thermostat down by 10 degrees or more.
- Turn off your hot water heaters if you don’t need them at this time.
- Delay your use of your oven, washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher.
Unplug unneeded electrical equipment including Christmas lights.It is important to understand that there is not a power shortage in our service area. The problem is that a main delivery point from BPA is down. Your Co-op is doing everything it can do to deliver that power from other areas. You can help your friends and neighbors keep their heat on, or get it back, by reducing your electricity needs. For more information, please visit our Outage Center.
There are several other outages in our area not related to BPA. Crews are working on actively to restore power in these areas.
If you need a warm place to go, please call (406) 758-2111. This line has been established by Flathead Emergency Services and has information for anyone looking for shelter.
