Wednesday, Nov. 20 – 3 p.m.

Hear from Puget Sound Energy President and CEO Mary Kipp on the significant November storm damage and restoration efforts underway.

Damage assessment and restoration efforts continue

Crews and hundreds of support staff continue their around-the-clock work to restore power to those who remain out as a result of yesterday’s damaging windstorm.

As of 12 p.m., we have 385,098 customers out of power and we have restored over 190,000 customers since the start of the storm. Our focus today is on transmission lines and substations powering critical infrastructure, including hospitals, and supporting public safety.

Our first step in restoring power is damage assessment: Crews are surveying damage via helicopter and on the ground looking at the damage to the system and determining the extent of repairs that are needed. We will provide restoration updates as information becomes available.

Due to the severity of the storm and complexity of the damage to PSE infrastructure, including multiple transmission lines, substations and distribution circuits, we anticipate a multiple day outage and encourage customers with critical needs to make alternate plans as we work to assess the situation and restore power.

Estimated restoration times will be updated on our outage map at pse.com/outagemap and the myPSE app as they become available. We understand this can be very frustrating to lose power for longer times, and we are thankful to our customers for their patience as we work to repair critical needs first.

Wednesday, Nov. 20 – 6 a.m.

The windstorm caused extensive damage to our system late afternoon yesterday and into last night. As of 5:20 a.m., we have 416,488 customers out of power. Our focus today is on critical infrastructure and public safety, as PSE has been fielding many 911 calls for safety/emergency needs. With daylight approaching, crews will continue assessing more of the overall damage to the region and provide restoration updates as information becomes available. We anticipate a multiple day outage and encourage customers with critical needs to make alternate plans as we work to assess the situation and restore power.

As damage assessment and field work continue, estimated restoration times will be updated on our outage map at pse.com/outagemap and the myPSE app as they become available.

We are hearing reports of extensive numbers of downed lines and are urging our customers to never touch or go within 30 feet of downed power lines because they might be energized.

We understand this can be very frustrating to lose power for longer times, and we are thankful to our customers for their patience as we work to repair critical needs first.

Wednesday, Nov. 20 – 1 a.m.

Severe winds from this evening's bomb cyclone ripped through western Washington, causing a mass outage event throughout most of our service area, with the biggest impact in King County. As of 1 a.m. we have 474,032 customers out of power. We anticipate a multiple day outage and encourage customers to make alternate plans as we work to assess the situation and restore power.

We are hearing reports of extensive numbers of downed lines and are urging our customers to never touch or go within 30 feet of downed power lines because they might be energized. Field crews are also seeing many fallen trees, causing blocked roads and restricting access.

Our Emergency Coordination Center and local storm bases are open to support restoration efforts. As the winds calm down, we will start sending crews back out as it becomes safe to do so. Once we have daylight, we will also deploy helicopters to gather more information for our response.

Our first step in restoring power is damage assessment: getting a look at what’s been done to the system and determining the extent of repairs that are needed. The process takes time, especially with the extent of the damage. We have brought in additional crews from outside of the area to help with restoration efforts.

We are aware of technical issues related to our outage map and have resolved them. Thank you for your patience. Outages that have been reported are being received into the system.

Tuesday, Nov. 19 – 8 p.m.

The National Weather Service has issued a High Wind Warning and Wind Advisory covering most of Western Washington. The advisories went into effect late this afternoon and are expected to continue until 4 a.m. Wednesday. Additionally, a Blizzard Warning remains in effect until 10 a.m. Wednesday in the Cascades and Snoqualmie Pass areas. As the winds pick up, we’re beginning to see scattered outages across our service area.

One issue with this evening’s strong storm is that the wind direction will be from the east-southeast, which is uncommon and could place added stress on trees.

We're working on technical issues related to PSE.com and our outage map. Thank you for your patience as we work to resolve the issue. Issues that have been reported are being received into the system.

Our crews are ready to deploy with assignments when outages occur and as soon as it’s safe to do so. We’re also bringing in additional crews from outside of the area to help with restoration efforts.

Our first step in restoring power is damage assessment: getting a look at what’s been done to the system and determining the extent of repairs that are needed. The process takes time, especially if weather remains an issue. Unsafe weather conditions can slow these efforts.

As we prepare for storm conditions, we encourage our customers to do the same:

• Make sure to have emergency supplies on hand at home and in your vehicle, such as extra batteries, flashlights and food
• Have a battery-powered radio ready to go
• Charge cell phones and mobile devices in case the power goes out
• Avoid opening and closing refrigerators and freezers more often than necessary. A closed refrigerator will stay cold for up to 12 hours.
• Turn off lights and unplug all appliances and sensitive electronic equipment, such as computers, to prevent an overload on your circuits when electric service is restored. Leave one light on to let you know when service returns.
• Download the myPSE app to track and report outages, check status and get estimated restoration times, or visit pse.com/outagemap