UPDATE 1:25 p.m.: Power had been restored to the Port Townsend area by 1:13 p.m. and crews were beginning to restore power to the rest of the county.
“We are just now restoring power gradually across the system,” Jefferson Public Utility District spokesperson Will O’Donnell said. “Power should be back up within an hour.”
He said if anyone’s power is not back within an hour, they should call the PUD at 360-385-5800.
He said crews need to be careful in restoring power because if they move too quickly it could cause damage to the system.
He urged anyone with medical issues that could be impacted by lack of power to let the PUD know so officials can keep them informed during outages.
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UPDATE 11:35 a.m.: Jefferson Public Utility District crews are working to remove a downed tree from the main transmission line near Discovery Bay, according to spokesperson Will O’Donnell.
He said once the tree is removed crews will then return power to each of the substations in East Jefferson County one at a time.
He said more than 18,000 customers are without power due to the system-wide outage.
He said he couldn’t say when power would be restored, but said crews are “working as quickly as possible.”
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PORT TOWNSEND — Electrical power is out in all of East Jefferson County due to a fault in a transmission line, Will O’Donnell, Jefferson Public Utility District spokesperson, said this morning.
He said crews know where the fault is and are now attempting to restore power to at least part of the county soon.
He said the transmission line, which belongs to PUD, is the major power line that supplies all power to East Jefferson County.
He was unsure what caused the fault in the line.
“We’re doing some switching to get power to some of the county,” said, adding he couldn’t say which parts would regain power. “We are working on it.”
O’Donnell said PUD will be updating its Facebook page as more information becomes available.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
