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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/03/2026 10.A. Distributed at the MeetingDistributed at Meeting: ©R-03-2O26. item#/OA Talking Points for Yakima City Council APPROVED I Updated 8/3/26 To be provided to Yakima City Background °nagerprior to ftyr Council rneeting on Monday, Aug. 3 Pacific Power customers in Yakima have experienced several wildfire related power outages since the start of June. Some of these outages are related to Enhanced Safety Settings on equipment during wildfire season and some are related to emergency de-energizations for active wildfires near power lines and equipment. We know repeated outages can be a hardship for customers and have impacts on the community. The city has reached out to Pacific Power to let them know our concerns. • Pacific Power has shared the following information on recent outages: Recent enhanced safety settings related outages One circuit (5Y458) has been identified for repeated enhanced safety settings related outages, most lasting more than two hours. o Distribution circuit 5Y458 serves the Neches Heights, northwest Yakima, and southeast Cowiche areas. 0 o Since the start of June, there have been eight enhanced safety settings - related outages on this circuit, six of which were related to underground cable failure and two of which were due to unknown causes. Recent emergency de-energization related outages On Friday, July 31, 2026, there was a fire near Ahtanum Road which was close enough to Pacific Power's lines and equipment that they needed to de -energize for safety. o This de-energization was done at the substation level, creating an outage for more than 6,200 customers. • Pacific Power was not able to isolate the outage to a particular circuit or device given the necessity for immediate action based on the location of the fire. o Pacific Power was able to restore all customers in under 50 minutes. On Saturday, August 1, 2026, there was another fire near Stone Road which was close enough to Pacific Power's lines and equipment that they needed to de - energize for safety. o This de-energization was done at the transmission level, creating an outage for more than 21,000 customers. • Pacific Power did not have access to remotely isolate a smaller portion of the circuit and had to de -energize at the transmission level. o Pacific Power was able to restore most customers in about an hour, but 61 customers remained out for over four and a half hours due to ongoing fire conditions. • On Saturday, August 1, 2026, the Red Sky Fire was close enough to Pacific Power's lines and equipment that they needed to de -energize for safety. o This fire damaged 10 transmission poles and eight distribution poles that needed to be replaced before power could be restored. Pacific Power began damage assessments and repairs as soon as fire response partners gave them access to the area. o The number of customers varied throughout the outage because of ongoing fire behavior with 1,316 customers experiencing an outage. o The longest of these outages lasted a day and a half. What's next Pacific Power has been in direct contact with me [City Manager] and let me know the company has engineers reviewing its system settings and looking for ways to improve reliability. Pacific Power has put together a plan to help reduce the impacts of enhanced safety settings related outages which includes: o A detailed engineering review of the equipment in this area, as well as a review of all enhanced safety settings outage locations. • Where possible, Pacific Power may adjust the sensitivity of its devices. o The possibility of moving one recloser and adding an additional recloser to break the circuit into smaller pieces, impacting fewer customers when a fault occurs. Pacific Power is working to make these improvements in the next two weeks. • Pacific Power will update customers in the coming days. • Pacific Power encourages all customers to be prepared during wildfire season. o This includes updating your contact information and communication preferences with Pacific Power to ensure you are getting important wildfire safety information. For more information, Pacific Power customers can call 1-888-221-7070.