7 p.m., March 23, 2025
As restoration work continued through the weekend, OPPD crews, contractors and mutual aid partners played the game of inches, making their way through the more complex and demolished areas of the district. In addition to outright replacing equipment and poles that were irreparably damaged, crews were diligent in salvaging undamaged materials that could be used again in other repair jobs, further hoping to expedite restoration in areas that need those parts. Due to the nature of the level of repairs in these remaining areas, it’s important to remember that progress will appear slower, but is happening nonetheless.
Despite today’s gusty conditions, our crews continued to make progress, especially in our rural areas, where needed repairs are along seven to eight miles of line, compared to a block or two in the urban areas.
To our customers who are still without power, we are truly sorry for this hardship. We understand how disruptive and frustrating it is to be without electricity and we want you to know that quickly restoring your power as safely and efficiently as possible is our highest priority.
Crews making repairs on downed lines:
Crews salvaging undamaged parts:
11:10 a.m., March 23, 2025
We’re still working very hard this morning to restore every last customer who lost power during the blizzard. More than 1,000 resilient, highly trained field workers and mutual aid partners are scattered throughout our service territory to repair an unprecedented amount of damage.
This event will go down as the fifth-largest outage in our history as measured by the number of customers who lost power. But in terms of damage to OPPD infrastructure, it is by far the largest we’ve ever seen.
Huge sections of circuits were ripped out by hurricane-force winds, requiring a complete rebuild of those areas and the removal of trees and broken equipment. Some of our line technicians with decades of line experience tells us they’ve never seen such widespread destruction. One described it as “complete devastation.”
Finishing this work will take time. But we won’t stop until the job is done.
A few quick reminders:
— There are many possible reasons why some homes in a neighborhood might have power and others wouldn’t. You and your neighbor may be on different circuits, service lines or transformers. A fault in a line can affect some homes but not others. Or, the service line that feeds your home could be damaged. If certain components attached to your house are damaged, you may need to contact an electrician. Click here for more information, or check out the graphic below.
— During restorations, there are times when crews need to wait to ensure that lines will safely carry electricity and to verify with OPPD dispatchers that a repaired circuit is working properly. This is a normal, necessary part of the process, and it can take time. Please continue to give our field workers plenty of space so they can work uninterrupted, and don’t assume they aren’t working if you see them sitting in their trucks or standing around near a pole. Our field employees take tremendous pride in their work and are absolutely committed to restoring every last customer.
— Additionally, the safety of our workers is our absolute top priority. Our field employees have been working extremely long hours through windy, muddy, slushy and snowy weather. They were out working even before the blizzard ended. We encourage them to take short rest periods when they’re able for their safety.
— Soon, we’ll be entering a phase where restoration work becomes much more localized. Repairing specific areas will restore a smaller number of customers. That might make progress appear slower, but we want to stress that our workers, contractors and mutual aid partners are working just as hard to restore everyone.
8 a.m., March 23, 2025
The number of customers without power continues to decline as we and our mutual aid partners work to repair the massive damage left by Wednesday’s blizzard. As of 8 a.m., we have 6,713 customers still without power, and we won’t stop until everyone has their electricity back.
We’ll update here periodically as new information becomes available. As restorations near an end, progress can seem slow-going because the remaining repairs won’t always restore as many customers at one time. Additionally, the remaining work is often complex. But we’re still still out in full force.
Thank you again for your patience. To those who are still out, we have not forgotten you and we’re doing everything we can to restore your power.
If you have any questions at all about your outage or you need to report that your power is out, please contact us online, via our OPPDConnect app or by calling 1-800-554-OPPD (6773).
For previous information about this event, click here.
