The wind storm that hit eastern Washington and northern Idaho on November 17 was the worst storm in Avista Corp.'s 126-year history. After almost 10 days of around-the-clock work, power was fully restored to about 180,000 customers -- about 48 percent of Avista Corp.'s total retail electric customers -- by early Friday, Nov. 27. Most of the damage from winds that gusted in excess of 70 mph occurred in Spokane County, Washington.
"We are extremely proud of our employees and the extraordinary efforts they put into restoring service to our customers under very trying conditions," said Scott Morris, chairman, president and CEO of Avista Corp. "We greatly appreciate the assistance we received from contract crews and utilities from Oregon, western and central Washington, northern California, Nevada, Utah, Montana and British Columbia. In addition, we want to thank our customers for their patience and support throughout the past 10 days. It was a difficult time for them and their kindness to our line crews as they worked in their neighborhoods truly demonstrated the spirit of togetherness that is reflective of our community."
Although it is too early to estimate the total costs associated with this storm event, we expect most of the costs will be capital costs to repair the electrical system, and as well as some operating and maintenance costs.
