Power outage affects thousands as temperatures plummet

Thousands of homes in the Flathead Valley were without electricity Thursday morning after a regional power provider issued an emergency shutdown to one of its delivery points serving the region.

The outage hit at 8 a.m., as temperatures plummeted below zero across western Montana. The weather station at Glacier Park International Airport recorded a low of minus 33F at 6 a.m., with a wind chill of minus 45F.

According to Courtney Stone, spokesperson for Flathead Electric Cooperative, the outages affected about 3,800 customers across Lake Blaine, Many Lakes and the Echo Lake areas. A separate outage not associated with the emergency shutoff impacted the Swan Lake region.

Most affected customers had their electricity restored by the afternoon.

Stone said Flathead Electric’s wholesale power provider, Bonneville Power Administration, had to shut off a delivery point into the co-op’s system on Thursday.

She said the co-op managed the situation by redistributing power from other areas. However, the extreme cold was creating challenges with the electrical load.

She said “all hands are on deck” working to restore power.

“It is important to understand that there is not a power shortage in our service area,” Stone stated in a media update. “The primary problem is that a main delivery point from BPA is down."

Residents in the Bigfork, Somers and east Flathead Lake areas were asked to help reduce demand on the system by turning down thermostats by 10 degrees or more, turning off hot water heaters when not in use, delaying use of an oven, washing machines and dryers, and unplugging unnecessary electrical equipment, including Christmas lights.

People in need of shelter were told to call Flathead Emergency Services at 406-758-2111.