BENTON COUNTY, Wash. – In the span of less than a week, Benton PUD saw 4 different outages across the county.
Manager of Customer Engagement, Jenny Sparks, tells us that the first outage that happened on Dec. 24th due to a substation failure issue that affected 2,800 customers. The next two outages happened on Dec. 29th, one in Kennewick and one in Prosser due to downed wires on the ground and affected a combined number of 890 customers. Lastly, the most recent outage happened on Dec. 30th in Kennewick was due to a transformer issue and affected 80 customers.
Sparks says that Benton PUD tries to get the power back on as quickly and as safely as possible for its customers. Sparks says that crews do routine checks everyday to try and prevent problems from happening in the first place.
“Outages are unpredictable but we want the community to understand that we don’t want to see that theirs outages just as much as our customers don’t want to experience them” says Sparks.
According to the Benton PUD Website, they have 11 different tips to keep you safe if you are experiencing a power outage. Some of which include:
– Keep flashlights, blankets and a power bank for your phone ready to use at all times
– Avoid opening the fridge or freezer inside of the house to keep in the cold air
– If you have an electric garage door opener, know how to open it manually in case you need to leave somewhere
– try to remember to switch off appliances heating element like, an iron or toaster oven, because they can potentially cause a fire when the power is turned back on
Sparks says that the quickest way to report an outage in your area is through the 24/7 outage hotline, that number is 1(888)582-2176. Sparks also says that Benton PUD always tries to give timely updates on social media about what areas are affected and what the potential restoration time will be. Benton PUD also has an outage map where you can see all the different outages happening across the county.
If you want to visit Benton PUD yourself, Its office is located at 2721 W 10th Ave, Kennewick, WA 99336 and is open Monday-Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
