NorthWestern Energy announced on July 23rd that it is in the preliminary stage of its Public Safety Power Shutoff plan, which involves monitoring the weather. According to NorthWestern Energy’s website, “If extreme weather conditions threaten our ability to safely operate the electrical grid, we will turn off power to help protect public safety. This is called a Public Safety Power Shutoff, or PSPS.”
In the initial announcement, they announced the possible shutdown for the afternoon of Thursday, July 25th which received a lot of attention from the public. The City of Great Falls announced that they were contacted by several residents, businesses, and organizations regarding the recent notification from NorthWestern Energy and encouraged residents to review information about the Public Safety Power Shutoff Plan through NorthWestern Energy’s website at https://northwesternenergy.com
NorthWestern Energy stated that Public Safety Power Shutoffs are an important addition to wildfire mitigation efforts and are considered a last-resort defense. PSPS events are unlikely to occur within most Montana cities and towns and are more likely for customers living near or in forested or grassland areas prone to wildfire devastation. NorthWestern Energy strives to give customers as much advance notice of a PSPS as possible, allowing time to prepare for the outage. Customers will be contacted directly by NorthWestern in advance of any outage.
Residents are encouraged to make sure NorthWestern Energy has their most current contact information by logging into My Energy Account or by calling (888) 467-2669. NorthWestern Energy has stated if an area will be impacted by a potential Public Safety Power Shutoff, they will notify residents multiple times throughout the process by automated phone calls and emails before power is turned off and after it is restored.
Author: Karen Anderson
Karen is the Editor-in-Chief overseeing all news operations at Foxys Publishing Co. She also loves photography and spending time with her dogs.
