PSE says windstorm 'comparable to a hurricane' with 'unprecedented damage'

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) leaders say the windstorm that struck parts of Western Washington “was comparable to a hurricane” and “did unprecedented damage” to its high-voltage transmission system.

That system provides the poles and wires that carry electricity from where it is produced to the communities the company serves, according to a Nov. 21 PSE letter to customers explaining why it has taken anywhere from one to five days to restore power for thousands of customers, many of them in King County.

“Without fixing those lines first, we cannot get power back into many neighborhoods,” according to PSE. “Much of this work takes place in hard to reach, remote parts of Western Washington.”

As of 6 a.m. Friday, Nov. 22, 166,464 PSE customers remained without power. In the previous 24 hours, the company restored power to about 120,000 customers. After the storm struck Tuesday, Nov. 19 into Wednesday, Nov. 20, PSE had 474,032 customers without power in Western Washington.

https://www.seattleweekly.com/northwest/pse-says-windstorm-comparable-to-a-hurricane-with-unprecedented-damage/