SPOKANE, Wash. — Avista Utilities will not conduct any more protective and proactive outages on Thursday.
Although Avista is not conducting any outages, they will still be closely monitoring areas where the system is impacted by the heat.
Avista had been organizing outages as a way to alleviate strain on the electrical system through ongoing electricity conservation by customers, grid modifications and shifting of electric load, according to Avista.
If the situation changes throughout the day on Thursday, Avista will notify customers in the impacted outage area. A map can be found on their website that identifies areas that are being monitored.
Since the outages started this week, they have declined in numbers each day throughout Spokane and Lewiston. On Monday, 24,000 customers experienced outages. This number decreased to 8,660 on Tuesday and decreased again on Wednesday to 603 customers in the Lewiston area.
There were no proactive, protective outages in the Spokane area on Wednesday.
“We are grateful to our customers for their partnership in conserving energy this week as we all manage through the record-breaking heatwave. This is making a real, impactful difference,” said Dennis Vermillion, Avista president and CEO. “We continue to monitor the system so we can provide reliable energy for all, and we appreciate the ongoing efforts to use electricity efficiently."
Avista continues to ask customers to try and conserve energy use at least through Friday, July 2, from 1 to 8 p.m. each day.
Conservation tips that Avista recommends includes:
- Reduce the use of heat producing appliances such as dishwashers, ovens, ranges and dryers
- Keep drapes and blinds closed during the day to block out heat from the sun
- Use an outdoor BBQ instead of cooking on the range
- Use small electric appliances or a microwave for cooking instead of your stove or oven
- Use a box fan to cool when possible
- Remember that room air conditioners are generally least efficient if they have to cool more than one room at a time
- Replace air conditioning filters frequently and make sure central air conditioning units are clear of debris