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November Wind Storm

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 6 p.m., we have 354,733 customers out of power. Power has been restored to more than 170,000 customers since the start of the storm. However, due to extensive wind and equipment damage, power for some customers may be out for an extended period. We are updating our outage map with the best information available and will continue to provide updates as restoration progresses. Our focus for tonight continues to be on transmission lines to critical infrastructure and public safety.

Crews continue to survey damage on the ground and helicopter patrols will resume tomorrow morning. 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. We will provide restoration updates as information becomes available.

Crews from other utilities from Washington State, British Columbia, Idaho and Oregon have all shown up to assist in the repair of our electric system. Support from these outside agencies ensures that PSE restores power to our communities as soon as possible.

 

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alert 

Safety first. Never touch or go within 35 feet of downed power lines because they might be energized. Call PSE at 1-888-225-5773 or 911 to report problems.

Report and track power outages online

Solar power

Though we see plenty of rain and clouds here in Western Washington, solar power promises a bright future for our region. In the past few years, more than 5,500 Puget Sound Energy customers have installed their own solar-energy systems. And the number of people going solar continues to grow.

It's not just our region's long and sunny summer days that suit the generation of solar-powered electricity. Solar panels can produce power (at lower levels) even under gray, wintery skies. 

Our customers not only are generating electricity to light their homes and businesses, but many earn net-metering bill credits from us when their solar systems produce more power than the customers are using.

To help demonstrate the viability of solar power in the Northwest, PSE built one of the region's largest solar arrays in 2007 at our Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility in Kittitas County. The installation can produce up to 500 kilowatts of power.

Fast facts about Wild Horse

  • Features 2,723 photovoltaic solar panels

  • Includes the first made-in-Washington solar panels—315 panels made by Silicon Energy in Arlington

  • Produces power even under cloudy skies—50 to 70 percent of peak output with bright overcast and 5 to 10 percent with dark overcast

Learn more
Contact information

wildhorse@pse.com

509-964-7815 (April through November)

Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility and Renewable Energy Center
25901 Vantage Highway
Ellensburg, Wash. 98926

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Check out the tours and recreational opportunities offered at the Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility.

    How solar power works 

    Sunlight hits two layers of semiconductor material, producing a difference in electrical potential, or voltage, between the layers. The voltage then drives current through an external electrical       circuit.

Solar