Customers that will be affected are those located west of the Elk River Bridge.  The outage will include all of Westport, Grayland and Tokeland.  The outage will not impact customers in Markham, Ocosta and Bay City on the east side of the Elk River Bridge.

The PUD faced the challenge of coordinating the outage based on the availability of a barge needed to do the work, the time of high tide and the availability of the contractor. In addition, the District responded to the needs of cranberry growers, scheduling the outage during afternoon hours to ensure it would not impact the ability of the growers to protect sensitive crops from cold weather that can occur during the evening and early morning hours. Originally, the outage was scheduled for Saturday, May 10 but after community members expressed concerns about the impact, the PUD searched for every possible option to address the needs of the community. "Fortunately, the stars aligned and we found an option that will work," said Wes Gray, PUD Engineering Manager. The Friday outage will not impact a normal school day in the outage area because it is an in service day, and students will not be in class that afternoon.

Customers within the planned outage area are advised to protect sensitive electronic equipment such as computers, televisions, and microwaves by unplugging those items and leaving them disconnected until power is fully restored.  In addition, customers are advised that the length of the outage (7 hours) is an estimate and power could be restored at any time. Therefore, please take necessary precautions if there are plans to do electrical work or repairs during that period of time.