Big winds hit the islands on Tuesday, May 23^rd leading to a number of power outages in the islands. The largest outage occurred on San Juan Island when a tree was blown into the transmission lines near the Pear Point substation where OPALCO’s power comes ashore from the submarine cable that delivers power from the mainland. About 6,000 members were affected. OPALCO line crews had the power up in less than three hours.

“The dedication and drive of these men is the pride of our Co-op,” said General Manager Foster Hildreth. “When you see OPALCO linemen at work, please give them the thumbs up!”

Members have more power at their fingertips now, too, with an outage map online (www.opalco.com/outages) that is updated every 10 minutes with the latest information. With this information, OPALCO staff update Twitter (@OrcasPower) and Facebook (Orcas Power & Light) feeds at least every hour as new information is available – essentially pushing it out to members who are following the outage. OPALCO has contracted with Cooperative Response Center to answer member calls and keep our online outage map updated 24/7.  CRC provides round-the-clock customer care services to more than 400 electric co-ops in the nation.