Residents west of Cheyenne in the Harriman-Curt Gowdy area were scrambling Monday afternoon to prepare for an unexpected emergency power outage due to inclement weather, starting from about 4 p.m. and continuing until whenever conditions improve — potentially 24 hours or more.
Black Hills Energy had notified area residents of the outage at 11 a.m., a few hours before it was scheduled to start at 4 p.m., according to a news release.
At 5 p.m., the company reversed course, saying the situation had stabilized enough to avoid such drastic action. But the warning and suddenness of the situation had already upended many people’s day.
One resident of the Harriman-Curt Gowdy area, who asked not to be identified because her work does not authorize her to speak to the media, said she had to take off work early to deal with the power outage.
“In general, we are always prepared because of where we live,” the woman told Cowboy State Daily. “The big thing is making sure we have water, since we live on a well, gassing up the generator, and charging phones.”
But the other big thing is making sure all of the animals have everything they need, which is the main reason the woman had to take off work early.
“We have no idea how long this will last,” she said. “The web page says until the ‘event’ is over, and then they have to send crews out to check lines before recharge. I am assuming 'the event' is high wind, which is predicted through tomorrow.”
High Wind, Dryness Prompted Shut-off Notice
The weather conditions that spurred the sudden outage were indeed high wind and low humidity, Black Hills Energy spokeswoman Laurie Farkas confirmed with Cowboy State Daily.
“The situation here with the PSPS (Public Safety Power Shutoff) is very, very fluid right now,” she said. “Weather conditions have continued to somewhat improve, and by that, I mean wind is still kicked up out there, but the humidity level is rising. So, we are actively monitoring the situation.”
Not long after that, Farkas texted Cowboy State Daily to say that there would not be a planned public safety power outage after all, as weather conditions had improved.
“Safety remains our top priority,” Black Hills Vice President of Operations Wes Ashton said in a media release emailed to Cowboy State Daily. “The combination of high wind speeds and low relative humidity can lead to conditions which make it unsafe to operate the electric grid. It was this combination of factors that prompted today’s emergency PSPS warning.”
Ashton added that while conditions had improved, the company is still monitoring the conditions in that area to “help keep our customers and communities safe.”
Area Is Usually High, Dry, And Windy
High wind and dry conditions are the norm for that area of Laramie County, Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day told Cowboy State Daily Monday afternoon.
“That does get a lot of wind, and it’s been a while since there’s been decent moisture up there, so things are pretty dry, and this is, I think, them being proactive,” Day said. “Because I’m sure you’ve heard of other situations where high wind and dry conditions and power lines have led to fire activity. So, this is most likely them trying to stay out ahead of it.”
Day said more often than not, at this time of the year, wind is high in the Curt Gowdy-Harriman area, while snow, meanwhile, hasn’t had a chance to build.
Risk of fire danger in the area has been high. A grass fire started Monday night around 6 p.m. in Albany County, according to a social media post on the Facebook page, Albany County Sheriff’s Office.
Power was turned off in the area, and evacuation orders were issued for an area east of I-80, west of the Laramie River, and north of Curtis Street.
Law enforcement were going door to door in the area to notify residents and assist with evacuations. The Albany County fairgrounds were also opened for evacuees.
“The cause of the fire remains under investigation, as our focus continues to be on public safety and evacuation efforts,” the Sheriff’s page post continued. “We will release more information as it becomes available.”
First Time In Memory
The resident Cowboy State Daily spoke to said she doesn’t recall any shut-off warnings like this in the past 25 years and described it as unusual.
Farkas told Cowboy State Daily that Black Hills Energy has been “working very hard” on its wildfire mitigation plan and its PSPS plans for the past year.
“I think a quick Google search would show that power companies all over the country have implemented this,” Farkas added.
Earlier this year, Wyoming did pass legislation requiring wildfire mitigation plans from utility companies, but Farkas said the company's PSPS announcement was “not tied to legislation.”
“Perhaps this is a good opportunity for us to visit further with you later this week or next week, our VP could speak about our Wildfire Mitigation Plan that includes PSPS,” she said.
More On Wildfire Mitigation Plans
Wyoming's wildfire mitigation bill was sponsored by Rep. J.T. Larson, R-Rock Springs, who said it has become necessary in the wake of huge wildfires that have been decimating western states including Wyoming, driving up insurance rates and contributing to spiking energy costs.
Last year, nearly a million acres of land burned in Wyoming. That also prompted grants totaling $49 million to pay for restoring grass and preventing noxious weeds, as well as a $25 million loan program to help those who suffered property damage during the fire.
Wildfires have been a big contributing factor in rising insurance costs, according to public utilities, and those costs are getting passed along to consumers in the form of higher electric rates.
Rocky Mountain Power cited rising insurance costs due to wildfires as a big contributing factor in why it needed another double-digit rate earlier this year.
The area resident Cowboy State Daily spoke with said companies need to improve their communication systems and should be better prepared for high wind, something power providers have dealt with forever in Wyoming.
“The poor communication is frustrating,” the resident said. "I also don’t understand why 4 p.m. was selected for shut down. Winds have been howling all day. I hope Black Hills does some follow-up communications. I just want to understand the process so we can be better prepared to be a partner and not a side effect.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
