MISSOULA — NorthWestern Energy crews continue to work on electrical grid repairs and resiliency in the months since this summer’s intense storms.
The utility told MTN that the push to recover from Missoula’s July 24 storm is mostly complete.
“For the most part, it's done, but we still have the occasional calls come in from a customer. Maybe a pole’s leaning that we missed. I expect that we will have those trickling in probably for the next few months,” said NorthWestern Energy Missoula Division operations manager Daniel Laasch. “The hard part for us in the Missoula storm is we try to get our customers put back together as quickly as possible. A lot of times that means coming back and maybe fixing that Band-Aid that we had to do.”
The storms wreaked havoc on Western Montana’s electrical grid. NorthWestern Energy was busy finding the hardest hit areas, calling in workers and gathering equipment.
“The night, specifically on July 24th, with the 110-mile-an-hour winds, I believe we lost 44,000 customers in 12 minutes,” Laasch said.
Crews responded quickly, with hundreds of fresh poles ready to replace damaged ones by 9 a.m. the next morning. NorthWestern Energy is also continually preparing for the next storm. Crews are already set for winter and always working to build a more resilient grid.
“We're always replacing insulators, replacing wire, replacing poles. I feel we do a pretty good job at preparing for those storms,” Laasch said. “As far as effects from the July storm we had in Missoula, I don't see it being an issue impacting us in any way for the winter.”
While the storm hit the power grid hard, more than just the linemen responded.
“Unfortunately, with the hundred-plus-mile-an-hour wind gusts, it’s just kind of it is what it is,” Laasch said. “The support that we received, I couldn't have been prouder to be a part of this community. These guys, when they're working, I mean they'll put in 100, 150 hours through that time span. When the public waves at them or gives them a thumbs up, or the food people deliver us, cookies, or restaurants in town deliver us food, that support's amazing.”
