Black Hills Energy Public Safety Power Shutoff Implemented

UPDATE: Black Hills Energy has implemented a  Public Safety Shutoff for about 300 customers:

Hazardous wind gusts and low relative humidity are creating dangerous fire conditions today. To protect public safety, Black Hills Energy has implemented an Emergency Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) for approximately 300 customers in the Curt Gowdy area. The Harriman area is still under a PSPS warning. The city of Cheyenne is not impacted. Power will be out until conditions improve and it is safe to re-energize power lines serving these areas. For more information about the areas impacted by today’s PSPS, visit blackhillsenergy.com/outages.

Black Hills Energy has pre-staged crews in impacted areas to expedite the restoration process. Once hazardous fire weather conditions have passed, Black Hills Energy crews will patrol power lines to ensure they are safe to be re-energized.

This process may result in extended outages, depending on the location and extent of any damage to the system resulting from this hazardous weather event. Black Hills Energy will continue to keep impacted customers informed throughout this PSPS event through text messages, emails, and phone calls.

Black Hills Energy reminds everyone that customers outside the active Public Safety Power Shutoff area may also experience outages due to high winds, enhanced protection settings on our lines that help prevent wildfire  ignitions when a fault is detected, or other factors. Outages may last longer than usual since we’ll need to inspect the lines to make sure they can be re-energized safely.

UPDATE: The hours of the shutoff have now been changed to start at 10 a.m. and run until 5 p.m.

Black Hills Energy has announced a possible Public Safety Power Shutoff:

Hazardous wind gusts and extremely dry conditions are creating very dangerous fire conditions today. To protect public safety, Black Hills Energy has issued an Emergency Public Safety Power Shutoff Warning to approximately 350 customers in the Harriman and Curt Gowdy areas, west of Cheyenne, Wyoming. This means that power could be proactively turned off for customers in these areas from noon to 5 unless conditions change, to protect public safety and prevent wildfire.   

For information about the areas impacted by today’s PSPS, visit blackhillsenergy.com/outages. 

Black Hills Energy will pre-stage crews in impacted areas to expedite the restoration process. Once hazardous fire weather conditions have passed, Black Hills Energy crews will patrol power lines to ensure they are safe to be re-energized. The restoration process is estimated to take a few hours. 

“The safety of our customers, employees and communities is our highest priority,” said Wes Ashton, vice president of South Dakota and Wyoming Utilities. “We are activating the Public Safety Power Shutoff as a last resort emergency measure to prevent our electrical equipment from becoming a source of ignition during these hazardous conditions.”