NorthWestern Energy customers in Moore, rural Stanford, Geyser and Utica areas will have extended power outages
Date: May 8, 2024
Type: News
2024 May Montana Storm
Heavy, wet snow led to widespread outages in early May 2024. Our crews worked tirelessly to restore power as quickly as possible, safely.
NorthWestern Energy powers through Montana spring storm to keep the lights on
Heavy, wet snow and icing from last week’s central Montana spring storm made for challenging restoration on some of NorthWestern Energy’s most remote lines. Wind and trees knocked down 137 distribution poles and 13 transmission poles and left more than 30 miles of line on the ground.
The weather systems entered the state May 7- 8 from the south and west resulting in strong winds and heavy snow fall in the mountains and lower elevations in Central and Northcentral Montana.
Power poles were damaged and downed and power lines broke after heavy ice and snow built up and by downed trees.
Adding to an already challenging situation, the Bozeman Pass on Interstate 90 shutdown for almost 24 hours, stranding several employees that were caught for hours in the miles’ long line of vehicles that were stopped on the interstate.
U.S. Highway 89 that runs through Monarch and Neihart was also closed during the storm.
When the weather cleared, helicopters were used to assess the damage. Crews and equipment from across Montana were brought to the hardest-hit areas and contracted crews assisted with repairs.
Customers, many without power for extended lengths of time, have generously expressed appreciation to NorthWestern Energy employees throughout the last 10 days. Thank you.
NorthWestern Energy crews will continue to work to restore power to all our customers affected by outages caused by conditions from last week’s storm.
Powering Through the Storm
Powering Through the Storm
NorthWestern Energy crews continue to work to restore service in Montana for customers affected by outages during this spring storm that brought strong winds and heavy snow and rain.
Additional personnel and equipment are in our hardest hit areas to assist with the work to restore service as quickly as possible, safely.
Thank you to all customers affected by outages for your patience, especially those experiencing outages for extended lengths of time.
Our dispatch, warehouse and other departments are doing everything possible to support our crews in the field in these challenging weather conditions working to restore your power.
Additional personnel and equipment are in our hardest hit areas to assist with the work to restore service as quickly as possible, safely.
Thank you to all customers affected by outages for your patience, especially those experiencing outages for extended lengths of time.
Our dispatch, warehouse and other departments are doing everything possible to support our crews in the field in these challenging weather conditions working to restore your power.
UPDATE: 9:30 a.m., Monday, May 13, 2024
About 50 NorthWestern Energy personnel from Great Falls, Havre, Missoula, Billings and Lewistown, along with contract crews, are in the Monarch area Monday morning to repair remotely located power poles and lines damaged by last week's spring storm.
Helicopters are picking up power poles and other equipment staged on the westside of Highway 89, north of the Belt Creek Ranger Station to deliver to work sites.
UPDATE: 4:21 p.m., Friday, May 10, 2024
Monarch and Neihart area
Our crews are setting up a generator to provide power for the 200 customers in the Monarch and Neihart area.
Thank you to Mountain View Co-op for delivering fuel for the generator and Williamson Fencing for putting up a fence to protect our equipment. Your support is powering our progress!
UPDATE: 2:17 p.m., Friday, May 10, 2024
Lewistown area
NorthWestern Energy crews, support personnel, tree crews, and others are out working to make repairs and restore service in the Lewistown area.
Three crews are working with a backhoe to get five poles back up in the Geyser area. We expect to have power back to the remaining 14 customers in Geyser by Friday night.
We have 25 customers remaining without power in the Stanford area and expect to restore power to most customers by Friday afternoon.
Our Lewistown crews are being assisted by personnel from other divisions and contractors. Crews have been responding to storm-caused outages since pre-dawn hours on Tuesday.
UPDATE: 2:10 p.m., Friday, May 10, 2024
White Sulphur Springs area
Our dedicated crews are making significant progress under challenging conditions in the White Sulphur Springs area.
Thanks to the relentless efforts of our crews, power was restored to 50 customers last night.
We anticipate restoring power to 55 of the remaining 64 customers in the area by Friday night. Crews expect to have the remaining homes back in power by Saturday.
UPDATE: 10:09 a.m., Friday, May 10, 2024
Great Falls area
Neihart and Monarch area: There will be up to 10 crews working on our lines starting Friday morning, and through the weekend. Traffic will be slow, and some residents may be boxed in for small amounts of time. Restoration work is difficult in the trees. We appreciate your patience and understanding as our linemen work to restore power to your area.
UPDATE: 5 p.m., Thursday, May 9, 2024
Lewistown area
Crews repaired transmission lines serving the area today and restored service to most customers in Moore and Geyser.
Utica outages are being repaired now.
Work to restore service to about 14 customers in Geyser and those in the rural Stanford area will continue through the weekend.
UPDATE: 4:45 p.m., Thursday, May 9, 2024
White Sulphur Springs area
Crews replaced more than a third of the broken power poles today and are beginning to restore power to 115 customers out of service in the area.
Muddy conditions are slowing progress and work is expected to continue into the weekend.
UPDATE: 4:39 p.m., Thursday, May 9, 2024
Great Falls area
Weather allowed the use of a helicopter to patrol lines today. There are multiple spans of downed power lines on the transmission line from Belt to Monarch. Tree crews are working to clear trees from the downed lines.
We estimate that the Monarch Substation will be reenergized tonight and crews will begin work to restore power to our customers in Monarch and Neihart.
Heavy, wet snow on the ground is slowing progress.
On Friday, additional contract crews will join the NorthWestern Energy linemen, support personnel, and contractors working on repairs and restoration.
We continue work to restore power to about 19 customers in the Conrad area, 7 customers in the Portage area, 31 in Adel, 50 in the Stockett area, 60 in the Belt area and 78 in the Ulm and Mission areas.
UPDATE: 11:42 a.m., Thursday, May 9, 2024
Storm-caused Outage Restoration
Transmission and substations outages affect hundreds of customers and are repaired first.
Next repairs to distribution systems that serve homes and businesses are made.
Damage is assessed and plans are made to restore service to all of our customers.
Generally, repairs that will restore service to the most customers are made and then crews begin repairs on lines serving fewer customers.
Widespread storm damage, some in hard-to-access areas, means the restoration work takes several days.
We have a plan and will restore power for all customers.
Learn more about the process HERE.
UPDATE: 11:42 a.m., Thursday, May 9, 2024
White Sulphur Springs area
More than 36 power poles are broken and more than 3 miles of power lines are down in the White Sulphur Springs area.
Repairs will take several days and power will remain out until at least Friday for some customers.
With the weather clearing, helicopters are in use to fully assess damage. We’ll use that assessment to refine our plan as needed and continue to work to restore power.
Snow cats and other specialized equipment are staged and available for crews to access power lines located in areas with deep snow and mud to make repairs.
UPDATE: 11 a.m., Thursday, May 9, 2024
Lewistown area
More than 30 linemen and support personnel, tree crews, and others are out working to make repairs and restore service in the Lewistown area, which will take several days.
Some hard-hit areas, including Geyser and Utica, will remain out of power until at least Friday.
Skies are clearing and we can now use helicopters and other equipment to fully assess damage, refine our plan and continue to work to restore power.
Our Lewistown crews are being assisted by personnel from other divisions and contractors. Crews have been responding to storm-caused outages since pre-dawn hours on Tuesday.
UPDATE: 10:15 a.m., Thursday, May 9, 2024
Great Falls area
The road to Neihart and Monarch is reopened after more than 3 feet of heavy, wet snow.
Crews and equipment are in the area now to make repairs, which will take several days. High winds and the wet snow damaged power poles and downed power lines throughout the area.
The Cascade and Ulm areas are also hit hard by the storm. Crews are working to repair damaged and broken poles and downed lines. Some customers in this area will be out of power at least until Friday.
Customers in the Adel area will be out of power at least through the weekend.
More than 75 linemen and support personnel, along with tree crews, some hydro division employees and others, are out working to make repairs and restore service.
Skies are clearing and we can now use helicopters to assess damage, refine our plan and continue to work to restore power.
Our Great Falls Division is being assisted by more than 45 personnel from other divisions and contractors. Crews have been responding to storm-caused outages since just before midnight Tuesday.
UPDATE: 10 a.m., Thursday, May 9, 2024
Great Falls Area:
• The largest remaining outage is in the Monarch and Neihart area. This area received 3 feet of wet, heavy snow. The terrain is very rugged and difficult to access, and we have been unable to safely get to these lines to assess the damage. This outage is affecting approximately 500 customers and the estimated restoration is mid-next week.
• We have approximately 150 customers still without power in Ulm. There are some broken structures but primarily broken wire. The ETR for Ulm is Thursday or Friday.
• We have about 30 customers out of power in Adel. This is another area that we have been unable to fully assess. The ETR for Adel is Saturday or Sunday.
• We expect the remaining smaller, miscellaneous outages throughout Great Falls to be restored Thursday afternoon.
Lewistown Area:
• Wet, heavy snow caused outages and blinks for approximately 8,000 customers in the Lewistown area early Wednesday morning. Crews were able to restore all customers but 550-600 restored by 6 a.m. Wednesday. Crews are working to restore remaining isolated outages.
• The corridor from Harlowton to Great Falls following Hwy 191 and then Hwy 87 was heavily impacted. Downed wires, broken insulators and broken structures spread throughout the area. The distribution system around the town of Stanford and the surrounding communities was hit exceptionally hard with over 30 distribution structures on the ground and large amounts of broken pins, arms and wire. The goal is to have all customers restored by late Friday.
• Roundup also experienced wet, heavy snow and outages. Most of the residential customers have been restored and crews are working on smaller localized outages.
• Judith Gap – Restored
• Moore will not be restored until sometime Thursday.
• Geyser – Restoration is expected on Friday.
• Utica – Restoration expected on Friday.
• West and South of Stanford – expect to restore by end of day Thursday.
• Hobson, Moccasin, Windham, Straw, Denton, Geraldine – Mostly restored, some isolated outages remain.
Helena area:
• Unionville/Orofino/South Hills/Montana City – ETR early Thursday
• Canyon Creek – mostly restored
• Elliston/Little Blackfoot – mostly restored
• Lincoln/Stemple Pass –ETR early Thursday
• White Sulphur Springs
o Area northwest of White Sulphur towards Fort Logan including Smith River Road, Camas Creek, Lingshire –ETR is late Thursday through Friday
o Area south of White Sulphur – mostly restored.
• Remaining sporadic small outages across service areas surrounding the Helena valley – ETR early Thursday.
Bozeman area:
• At various times approximately 1,500 customers were out of power. Most outages were smaller in scale and related to broken conductors, trees in lines, snow unloading, etc. Currently we are keeping up with all outages as they come in and responding quickly.
UPDATE: Wednesday, May 8
NorthWestern Energy crews are working to repair broken power poles, downed power lines and other damage from storms and restore power service to customers affected by outages.
Some areas will have extended outages. Service restoration is estimated to be:
Thursday
- Ulm area – Thursday, May 9
- Belt area – Thursday, May 9
- Craig area – Thursday, May 9
- Stockett area – Thursday, May 9
- Raynsford area – Thursday, May 9
- Moore area – Thursday, May 9
- Rural White Sulphur Springs – Thursday, May 9
Friday
- Geyser area – Friday, May 10
- Utica area – Friday, May 10
- Rural Stanford— Friday, May 10
Sunday
- Monarch area – estimated to be out at least through the weekend
Niehart area – estimated to be out at least through the weekend
Please check NorthWestern Energy’s Outage Map HERE for the most up-to-date information on outages.
Our crews will continue to work into the night to restore widespread outages across the state.
HOW WE RESTORE POWER DURING AN OUTAGE
During a widespread outage, we prioritize repairs to restore power to the largest number of customers possible, as quickly as possible while keeping everyone safe.
WHAT TO DO DURING A POWER OUTAGE
NorthWestern Energy customers in Monarch, Neihart and White Sulphur Springs areas will have extended power outages
Date: May 8, 2024
Type: News