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UPDATE 6:30 p.m.: This story has been updated to include a possible cause of the outage and update the number of customers still without power.
The Dave Johnston Power Plant in Converse County was on fire early Thursday afternoon — but that came after, not before, rolling power outages throughout the state, Converse County Emergency Management coordinator Russ Dalgarn told Cowboy State Daily.
Converse, Natrona, Goshen, and Platte Counties, and northeast Wyoming, suffered power outages Thursday afternoon, Wyoming Office of Homeland Security Director Lynn Budd confirmed to Cowboy State Daily.
The outages had affected nearly 93,000 customers at one point, but by 6:30 p.m. power was restored across to most customers across the region. Power was still out for about 8,800 customers, mostly in Campbell, Crook and Weston counties, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us.
The cause of the widespread outage is believed to be a pair of 500-kilovolt power lines that tripped near Medicine Bow, Wyoming, at about 12:45 p.m., according to the Western Area Power Administration.
"This incident resulted in an abnormal voltage event that subsequently tripped a number of surrounding lines, including WAPA transmission, resulting in further power outages to communities across the area," according to a statement from WAPA spokesman Stephen Collier to Wyoming Public Media. "We are coordinating with a number of major utilities in the area as well as other WAPA customers to address the outage as quickly as possible."
Fremont County experienced outages in spots and flickers. Dubois was dark Thursday afternoon, Dubois Frontier editor Christine Snow said.
The aurora borealis that unfurled across the northern hemisphere this midweek could be a cause, Budd said, though she said she did not know a cause for certain.
“It’s something we’ve considered — but we’re at the lower cycle of that,” said Budd. “It could just be cascading consequences of cascading outages.”
She confirmed the Dave Johnston Power Plant was on fire.
During a phone call with Dalgarn at about 2:20 p.m., he said he’d just learned the fire was out and everyone at the plant was accounted for.
Dalgarn was driving back quickly from Cheyenne to his home county “to figure out what the hell is going on,” since no one in his area had cellphone service, he said.
The state radio had just flicked back on at that time, Dalgarn added.
He noted in a 3:20 p.m. phone call that the Dave Johnston had a "small" fire with no injuries.
Dave Johnston Didn't Explode
Dalgarn was emphatic that the Dave Johnston fire started after the power outages.
Outages at various locations on the grid can prompt fires at others, Budd said. For her own part, she wanted to dispel rumors that the Dave Johnston plant had exploded. It had only caught fire, she said.
Rocky Mountain Power in an email statement sent 4 p.m. Thursday acknowledged the outage and said the cause is under investigation.
"Our crews are working diligently to safely restore power as quickly as possible; however, due to the distance and complexity of the restoration process (it) may take several hours," the statement adds.
The automated responder at the Riverton-based High Plains Power said 3,500 meters in Fremont County were affected.
But the issues were mostly to the northeast of Riverton and spreading into South Dakota, High Plains Power CEO Jon Mayes told Cowboy State Daily in a Thursday phone interview.
His said he believes a generation unit tripped off and caused a cascade of events, though he didn’t know where that may have started.
“I don’t know which generation unit tripped off and caused cascading events, where other lines faulted out and other generation faulted out – which tripped off more things,” he said at about 2:30 p.m. “It’s pretty big right now, we’re trying to fight some voltage issues, and they’re trying to stabilize the grid to be able to bring more load back on.”
The grid needs more load, to reduce the voltage. Maintaining the right voltage and amperage on the grid is “this wild mix” that was “out of whack” as of Thursday afternoon, he said.
Mayes declined to speculate on whether the aurora was a factor, saying he does not know the original cause of the trip.
South Dakota media outlets were reporting outages in the western portion of the state early Thursday afternoon.
"Much of the traffic in Rapid City is currently being controlled by the Rapid City Police Department. Rapid City Public Schools announced that school will remain open until it’s (sic) normal times," KBHB radio reported.
Rapid City government officials have stated that power has been cut for the entirety of the city, with the wider region seeming to have experienced the same blackout conditions, the outlet added.
Black Hills wrote in a later email statement from Senior Public Affairs Manager Laurie Farkas that its personnel are working to restore power to customers in its service territory in South Dakota and Wyoming, due to the regional electrical outage.
"Our team is now re-energizing the system in segments. As of 2:30 p.m. today, approximately half of our impacted customers have had their power restored," wrote Black Hills. "We will continue to safely restore power to our customers this afternoon and potentially into the evening hours."
Black HIlls' statement says the event happened on the regional transmission grid outside of the Black Hills Energy footprint. The company encouraged customers to:
- Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed to help preserve food.
- Use flashlights instead of candles to avoid fire hazards.
- Don’t use generators indoors or in enclosed spaces.
- Non-functional traffic signals, treat as a four-way stop.
- Visit its social media channels or Black Hills Energy’s outage map.
Black Hills Energy says it has activated its emergency response plan.
Thankfully ...
Weston County Emergency Management reported to its Facebook page at about 2:40 p.m. Thursday that the power outage in that area was resolved.
"Emergency Management checked with the Safety Manager at the Refinery to make sure all was good on their front as well," says the statement, adding that local and state authorities were also coordinating with health care providers and among themselves to formulate a plan in case the outage became a long-term incident.
"Thankfully," the agency added, "this didn't last long."
The agency clarified in a 3:20 p.m. post, however, that people on Powder River Energy were still without power, and may remain without it into the night.
At the Casper/Natrona County International Airport, the power outage didn't impact flights or services, said Air Service Manager Katie Reed.
The airport's backup generator kicked on when the power went out and flights continued as normal, she said.
“The only small change is that the TSA screening process is a little bit different based on their power needs and what of their screening tools they are taking on,” she said.
Reed said the airport’s backup power system is designed to last for as long as needed.
Powder River
Tim Velder, a marketing and communications specialist with Powder River Energy Corporation, which delivers power to 26,000 rural customers in Sheridan, Johnson, Campbell, Crook and Weston counties, confirmed that power was out from Sheridan to north of Cheyenne, including the cities of Gillette, Sheridan and Newcastle.
“Something happened to a transmission line,” he said. “What it was, I don’t know.”
Velder said rural electric customers in Wyoming’s northeast corner would likely be without power for a while.
“We’re going to tell our members to be out overnight, mainly because the voltages coming into our system are just too unstable to try and manage where they’re spiking and dropping,” he said. “On our end, we’ve got crews staged at every substation. They’re ready to safely turn on power once the voltages get stable. We don’t know when that’s going to be.”
Going Dark
At Thirsty’s Bar and Grill in Rapid City, about 40 people were eating lunch when the room went dark. Staff opened doors and large windows allowed for enough natural light to keep customers in high spirits.
Next door at The Barberia, one of the barbers took her client outside on the sidewalk to finish cutting his hair.
Police in Rapid City were directing traffic at major intersections where stoplights were dark. They cautioned drivers to treat non-functional traffic signals as a four-way stop.
“I have no idea when the power’s going to be back,” said Sergeant Mike Shyne. “We’ll have officers stationed at all [nonfunctioning] lights until we have power.”
Stoplights were out from downtown into North Rapid City. There had been no traffic accidents related to the stoplights being out that he was aware of.
Zak Ingle, a Ski School Director at Terry Peak in the Black Hills, said there was no power there. He left work at 2 p.m. and returned home to the outskirts of Rapid City, where he also had no power.
In Casper, outages appeared to be city-wide, though power was being restored by mid-afternoon, said Casper Police Department public information officer Rebekah Ladd.
About half the buildings were without power at Casper College, according to Cameron Wendling with Enrollment Services. As of mid-afternoon, classes were still in session, thanks in large part to generators.
What To Do
In a 4:45 p.m. email statement the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security said Budd urges people in affected areas to:
- Treat all downed power lines as live and extremely dangerous. Stay away and report them immediately to 911 and your local utility provider.
- Conserve Cell Phone Battery: Limit non-essential calls and use text messaging where possible. Utilize cell phone carriers or public safety radio for emergency communication.
- Use Generators Safely: If operating a portable generator, NEVER run it inside a home, garage, or any enclosed space. Ensure proper ventilation to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Check on Neighbors: Check on vulnerable family members, neighbors, and friends, particularly the elderly or those dependent on electricity for medical equipment.
- Use Alternate Facilities: Residents who are oxygen-dependent or require power for life-sustaining medical equipment and do not have backup power are encouraged to contact their local emergency management office or visit designated facilities.
- Avoid Overloading Circuits: Once power is restored, gradually turn on appliances to prevent overloading the local circuits.
WOHS will continue to work closely with local county emergency managers, first responders, and private utility partners to continue to monitor the situation.
Clair McFarland can be reached at [email protected] and Greg Johnson can be reached at [email protected].
