SPOKANE, WA — Avista crews continued restoration efforts Thursday following a windstorm that damaged power infrastructure across eastern Washington and northern Idaho, leaving tens of thousands of customers without electricity.
Avista reported that approximately 75 percent of the roughly 80,000 customers impacted by Wednesday’s storm have had power restored. As of 10 a.m. Thursday, about 17,550 customers remained without service across more than 559 individual outage locations.
The utility said strong winds combined with saturated ground conditions caused widespread damage, with trees and vegetation falling into power lines and poles. Crews patrolled hundreds of miles of line on foot, by vehicle, and by helicopter once winds subsided to assess damage and prioritize repairs. Hundreds of power poles and miles of wire were affected, with some individual pole replacements taking up to eight hours to complete.
More than 45 Avista line crews, 36 contract crews and 30 vegetation management crews are currently working on restoration efforts. Additional contract crews arrived Thursday morning, and dozens of other Avista employees are supporting operations across the service territory.
Avista released estimated restoration timelines for several impacted communities. The estimates remain subject to change as crews continue repairs:
| Area | Customers Without Power | Estimated Restoration Time |
|---|---|---|
| Coeur d’Alene | 2,600 | Saturday, Dec. 20 |
| Colville | 600 | Thursday, Dec. 18 |
| Davenport | 200 | Thursday, Dec. 18 |
| Grangeville | 900 | Thursday, Dec. 18 |
| Kellogg | 6,000 | Sunday, Dec. 21 |
| Lewiston-Clarkston | 800 | Saturday, Dec. 20 |
| Pullman | 4,000 | Saturday, Dec. 20 |
| Sandpoint | 30 | Thursday, Dec. 18 |
| Spokane | 10 | Thursday, Dec. 18 |
| St. Maries | 5,000 | Saturday, Dec. 20 |
Avista said some of the hardest-hit areas, including parts of the Silver Valley, may see outages extend into Sunday or potentially Monday. Crews are expected to continue restoration work through the weekend and remain prepared to respond to additional outages as strong winds persist in the forecast .
To support impacted customers, Avista has deployed a mobile Outage Support Hub at the IGA in St. Maries. The hub is providing charging stations, snacks, water, coffee and access to outage information, with Avista employees on site from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. to answer questions and provide updates.
The utility is urging residents to treat all downed power lines as energized and to stay clear of fallen or sagging lines. Downed lines should be reported by calling 911 and then Avista directly.
Restoration updates and estimated times are available on Avista’s outage map at myavista.com/outage.
