SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — For two hours on Monday, 12,500 Spokane Valley residents will lose power in order to protect ospreys and prevent long-term outages.
The power outage is set to begin at 11:59 p.m. Ospreys like to build their nests on power poles which creates a hazard for both the birds and residents.
Vera Water and Power said it's important to remove the ospreys and their nest. After the birds have been removed, they will repair any damage to the power pole and install raptor guards to prevent the osprey from rebuilding their nests.
Bonneville Power Administration will be removing an ospreys nest on a high voltage transmission line power pole.
The electrical equipment has significant damage already and has had two short outages recently.
If the bird's nest is not removed and the damage is not repaired, there could be a significant risk of a fire which would result in a multi-day Vera system outage.
Vera Water and Power encourages its customers to prepare for the power outage in advance.
Additionally, they ask that customers turn off their sprinklers and irrigation systems Monday night to minimize the electrical load needed for the water pumps when the power is restored.
Updates will be available on Vera Water and Power's website.