Rocky Mountain Power warns extreme fire danger could force power shutoffs

Breaking update: Rocky Mountain Power reported Sunday that power has been restored for all customers who lost power due to the public safety power shutoff.

RMP said the restoration was complete at approximately 9:50 p.m. Sunday.

“Crews worked tirelessly throughout the day to patrol power lines, assess potential damage, clear debris, and complete necessary repairs before re-energizing equipment,” RMP said. “We sincerely thank our customers and communities for their patience and support as we took this important precaution to reduce wildfire risk.” 

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SALT LAKE CITY — Rocky Mountain Power issued a statement Thursday warning of possible power shutoffs in central and southern Utah over the weekend as fire danger becomes an increasing concern.

The power company said it was “closely monitoring weather conditions that include the potential for elevated winds and extreme fire conditions in the areas of Enterprise Valley, Milford, Cedar City, Santaquin, Panguitch, Richfield and Dixie, Utah.”

“Power crews are ready”

In response to those conditions, the company issued a “shutoff watch” for those areas, which goes into effect Saturday at 7 a.m. and finishes at noon on Sunday. That means crews are ready to shut down power lines and electrical equipment if they believe there’s an “extreme risk of wildfire ignition.”

“Community safety and reducing wildfire risk are our top priorities,” Pete Singh, Rocky Mountain Power’s incident commander said in the statement.  “We take the decision to turn off power very seriously. Public Safety Power Shutoffs will be targeted, precise, and guided by real-time data from conditions on the ground. We appreciate our customers’ patience and support during these critical safety efforts.”

Power company has notified customers

Rocky Mountain Power had already contacted approximately 18,000 customers in the area, warning them of the potential shutoffs. The company said it would give further updates to those customers if a shutoff was needed or canceled.

As of 9 a.m. on Friday, the power company stated on its X feed that some customers had already received a canceled notification, however, at least 6,300 customers could still be affected.

“Approximately 6,300 customers remain in a watch or warning status,” the power company said. “However, some customers we were able to cancel the PSPS warning in some areas due to improving weather conditions. We will continue to provide notifications as we continue to monitor the conditions.”

The power company said it would work with local public safety partners and allocate additional personnel to the area. It said if a power shutoff was put into effect, crews would have to inspect power lines before restoring power, resulting in longer outages.

A power shutoff would be a last-resort preventive measure to protect against wildfires, Rocky Mountain Power said.