About 5,000 Keizer homes were still without power Monday morning at 10 a.m.
PGE had about 2,500 workers still trying to light up the grids throughout the Willamette Valley after restoring power to an astonishing 150,000 homes in the first 72 hours after the worst ice storm in decades hit the Salem-Keizer area.
There was no estimate as to when the power would be fully restored throughout Keizer.
Snow and ice on transmission lines as well as on trees and limbs that fell on power lines caused the vast majority of the damage and outages. Restoration work is expected to take some time, continuing through the weekend and into next week. Residents should always assume that any downed line is live and extremely dangerous and should stay far back. Never touch a downed wire with your body or any object. Report any downed line immediately to PGE by calling 503-464-7777 or 800-544-1795.
For customers still without power, PGE officials encourage the following:
• Use caution with alternative light and heating sources to avoid unintentional fire from candles, harmful fumes from kerosene heaters used indoors without proper ventilation or deadly carbon monoxide from use of charcoal briquettes indoors;
• Lock in home heat by tacking blankets over windows and doorways to keep the cold out and putting rolled towels at the bottom of doors to keep drafts out;
• Save body heat by wearing loose layers of clothing to trap body heat; wearing a hat, even when sleeping; moving periodically to generate body heat and using blankets and a hot water bottle if feasible.
• If you can safely do so, consider staying with a friend or family member who has power;
• If you’re concerned for yourself, a family member or neighbor, consider finding another location with power.
• If you need emergency shelter or have other needs related to cold weather, please call 911. For customers whose power is out, please contact PGE if you haven’t already.
PGE offers several ways to report an outage or get an update:
• Online: Go to portlandgeneral.com/outage. Customers can also view a map and a list of current outages by ZIP code.
• App: Download at the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Links also available at portlandgeneral.com/app.
• Phone: Call 503-464-7777 or 800-544-1795 to report a power outage or downed line through our automated system. Customers can also request a call back when power is restored.
• Social: Follow PGEon Twitter @PortlandGeneral and Facebook @PortlandGeneralElectric.
The historic ice, snow and wind storm that began on Thursday, Feb. 11, caused extraordinary damage across the state, including to power service equipment. At least 4,408 PGE power lines were been brought down by ice and tree limbs, and multiple transmission lines across PGE’s service area were severely damaged.
At the peak Sunday, Feb. 14, about 253,000 PGE customers were without power.