PULLMAN, Wash. – Since Nov. 10, Avista customers in the Palouse and Lewiston/Clarkston Valley region have started to have their natural gas services restored.
The City of Pullman Emergency Management Team met Sunday morning to discuss the process when they were advised that Avista is experiencing delays in repressurizing the natural gas lines.
According to the City of Pullman, Incident Commander Mike Heston says, “Please remain patient and do not attempt the relighting process without the assistance of the utility-trained personnel. I understand this is a bad situation, but creating a potential emergency situation will make things worse. Progress is being made.”
City of Pullman Administrator Mike Urban added, “I am aware that many of you are getting updates and monitoring social media – noticing that the schedule provided by Avista yesterday is no longer accurate. Staff is working with the utility for a more realistic update. Please do not take matters into your own hands when there are options available to help.”
400 crew members assigned to this issue have been helping with the restoration efforts. They will work from 6 a.m. – 10 p.m. until residents receive natural gas.
Since this outage is affecting a wide range of areas, Avista has provided a map indicating the restoration order and the time window that crews will be in each area. Critical customers, such as hospitals and medical facilities, will be prioritized. For more information about the estimated restoration times in your area, go to the Avista website.
As natural gas is back on, customers will receive a notification within 24 hours of their planned relight that crews are headed to their area. Once a residence is relit, Avista will check the appliances and make sure everything is running correctly.
If you are away when a service person comes by, they will leave you a card urging you to contact Avista to ensure someone can come by.
