NorthWestern Energy is monitoring the need for a potential public safety power shutoff due to high winds combined with high temperatures and low humidity forecasted for Thursday afternoon.
“These conditions are expected to impact a large portion of Montana. Our team is closely monitoring the situation, and we will continue to update our customers if the need for the public safety power shutoff arises,” reads a post on NorthWestern’s Facebook page Tuesday morning.
According to NWE, the rare public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) are a measure of last resort included in the company’s wildfire mitigation plan to prevent their power lines from sparking a wildfire.
“Public safety power shutoffs are used only in extreme situations during severe fire weather. If extreme weather conditions threaten our ability to safely operate the electrical grid, we will turn off power to help protect public safety,” reads NWE’s website.
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Northwestern’s PSPS strategy is structured in multiple phases, “monitoring” being the lowest level. This happens 72 hours out from the potential shutoff.
The situation can upgrade from “monitoring” to a “watch” then a “warning” less than 48 hours from the weather event.
If NWE decides to shut off the power, they will issue a public safety power shutoff alert.
“During each stage of the process, we are assessing the need for a public safety power shutoff. During any stage, we may decide a proactive outage is not needed,” reads NWE’s website.
If you will be impacted by the PSPS, NorthWestern will notify you numerous times throughout the process. They encourage the public to make sure the company has up-to-date contact information via a customer’s account online or by calling 888-467-1669.
The company also plans to post information about a potential PSPS on its website and social media accounts.
According to reporting from The Billings Gazette, Northwestern Energy has already faced litigation for a 2021 fire that destroyed much of Denton, a small northcentral Montana town.
Known as the West Wind fire, the blaze that raced through the area Nov. 30, 2021, occurred during high winds and extremely dry conditions. A Montana Department of Justice investigation found that grass and vegetation was set on fire by a section of overhead power line belonging to NorthWestern Energy.
The Central Montana Railroad sued NorthWestern in 2023, attempting to recover costs for destroyed machinery and infrastructure burned by the fire.