From Orcas Power and Light (OPALCO)
[Yesterday, Aug. 31,] at approximately 2:15 p.m., OPALCO linemen were performing routine maintenance in an underground vault located by the County Sheriff’s office on Mt. Baker Road when an equipment failure caused a fault and brief outage.
Because the line crew was working in close proximity to the equipment failure, medical personnel were called to the scene. OPALCO’s Journeyman Lineman who was working in the vault, was thoroughly checked and released with no injuries or complaints. The equipment failure did result in the loss of power to approximately 600 members in the Eastsound area; power was restored by 3:30 p.m.
OPALCO is our cooperative electrical utility serving more than 11,000 co-op member-owners on 20 islands in San Juan County. We provide electricity that is 95% greenhouse-gas free and is predominately generated by hydro-electric plants. OPALCO was founded in 1937 to bring electricity to our rural islands.
