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When the lights flicker or go out, you expect someone at Avista be working on getting that power back on, and rightfully so. Often our crews are working on your power down the street or somewhere out of your view and you don’t get the chance to see their work, other than when the lights come back on. On a very windy February day, we rode along with an electrical crew that was restoring power to show you some of the work that goes into a typical restoration.
The video shows that a tree branch came into contact with a power line, damaging some overhead equipment. Crews made a temporary fix and routed power around the damaged insulator, then moved on to the next outage. A permanent fix for the insulator will occur after winds calm. If we had made that longer repair first, the crew wouldn’t have been able to move on to the next outage so quickly, potentially lengthening another customer’s restoration time.
Our crews do this work for you, regardless of weather conditions. A neighboring homeowner even brought out a plate of treats for the crew - very nice of her.
The video is set to the tune of "Dust in the Wind." A sad song, but fitting for such a windy, dusty day!
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Much of this blog post was originally posted on Feb. 24, 2012.
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