The Blaine County Commission is slated to hold several meetings to review the prolonged power outage that began on Christmas Eve and lasted well into the following day for many residents of the Wood River Valley.
The commission is scheduled to receive a presentation from representatives of Idaho Power on Tuesday, Jan. 12.
Commission Chair Larry Schoen said the power company will discuss the blackout as well as plans for a second transmission line to be installed from Hailey to Sun Valley and Ketchum to help prevent such events from happening again. The public is welcome to attend the meeting, which will take place at the Old County Courthouse in Hailey. This presentation from the power company is tentatively scheduled for 9:15 a.m.
On Thursday, Jan. 14, the public is invited to sit in on the regular monthly meeting of emergency services personnel from throughout the county, at which the incident will be reviewed. The meeting will take place at 10 a.m. at Sun Valley's Elkhorn Fire Station with elected officials from the county and cities in attendance.
The power outage began about 10 p.m. on Dec. 24 after one of the two lines that leads into the valley failed, with the second line failing as well less than half an hour later.
Power is transported to the county by way of two 138,000-volt lines that merge at Hailey. One is the Midpoint-Wood River line, which starts near Shoshone and reaches Hailey from the southeast. The other is the King-Wood River line starting near Hagerman, 80 miles southwest of Hailey.
From Hailey north, only one line serves Ketchum and Sun Valley.
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Idaho Power has said a combination of ice, extremely cold temperatures and high power use in the valley impacted the lines, causing some of the valley's 17,000 power customers to wait 27 hours for electricity to return.
Though one of the lines was repaired by 10:15 a.m. on Dec. 25, one line isn't enough for the high electricity demand during times like Christmas Eve, according to Idaho Power.
Both lines weren't completely up and running with power restored to all customers until 1 a.m. on Dec. 26.
Despite the length of the outage, there were no "catastrophes," according to Commissioner Tom Bowman, who helped man an emergency operations center established Christmas Day at the Blaine County Public Safety Facility in Hailey.
However, the event still has the commission concerned about the lack of a countywide plan in case of a recurrence.
"I hope this illuminates the need for having a plan," Bowman said at a commission meeting Monday. "Or we have to let people know that they need to plan for themselves. Hopefully, the meeting on [Jan. 14] will provide clarity on this."
One part of a plan could include encouraging county residents to register with Swiftreach, a reverse 911 program that calls residents to inform them of emergencies or provide information during events such as the power outage.
In the wake of the incident, Ketchum Fire Chief Mike Elle said in an e-mail that this feature would help residents stay informed, either by phone calls, e-mails or text messages. Elle said that those registering land lines should note that phones requiring electricity to power remote handsets or answering machines might not receive messages in the case of a power outage.
Residents can register for the program by going to the Blaine County Web site, www.co.blaine.id.us, and clicking on the Swiftreach program link on the left side of the page.
Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com
