SPOKANE, Wash. — Communities on the Palouse were affected by one of the largest natural gas outages for Avista. Over the past week, crews have been working at all hours of the day to fix the issue and relight the homes affected.
On Nov. 8, a natural gas pipeline owned and operated by Williams Pipeline near Pullman was damaged. This resulted in a natural gas outage for about 36,000 customers.
Yesterday, Avista released a statement thanking their customers for their cooperation and patience along with recognizing the team that helped restore natural gas to over 36,000 customers.
With 800 Avista workers, 300 additional crew members and over 60 HVAC contract employees they were able to restore natural gas in less than a week.
Once the pipeline was damaged, all customers needed to have their meters manually shut off by crew members which took about 3,00 work hours.
After the pipeline was replaced on Nov. 9, all customers needed to have their system relighted to make sure natural gas was flowing properly. Crews went to homes throughout the day averaging four to five relights per hour.
By Nov. 14, approximately 33,000 customers in all service zones of the Palouse and Lewiston/Clarkston Valley had gas resorted. As of now, there are only a few hundred relights remaining.
If you were not home when Avista crews arrived at your home to relight, please call them at 1(800) 227-9187 to schedule this to get done as soon as possible.
President and Chief Operating Officer, Heather Rosentrater offered:
“Our heartfelt gratitude goes out for the unwavering patience and support shown by our valued customers. We understand the immense difficulties, stress, and frustration endured while waiting for relights and the restoration of natural gas service. The remarkable compassion and generosity displayed by these incredible communities have left a profound impact on all of us involved. The uplifting words of encouragement and thoughtful gestures, like offering coffee, snacks, and encouraging notes, provided our dedicated crews with the strength and motivation that helped us persevere during this challenging response effort.”
