Power Outages Persist in Casper, Other Areas in Wyoming
More than 900 Rocky Mountain Power customers, mostly in the Casper area, are experiencing electricity outages as of 11:30 a.m. Sunday.
That number rose to 2,800 at times, according to the company's website and Curt Mansfield, vice president of operations for the company.
"They're caused by heavy snow and wind impacts," Rocky Mountain Power spokesman David Eskelsen said Sunday morning.
"We have crews working actively on them," Eskelsen said.
In Lander, a fire on a utility pole caused an outage, he said. Those kinds of fires are usually caused by dust and salt building up on the equipment, making them susceptible to sparks.
While crews are doing their best to repair damaged equipment, Eskelen said outages will continue as long as the snow and wind continue.
Mansfield said in a prepared statement that working conditions are difficult with heavy snow, wind and multiple road closures.
"All available crews in Lander and Casper are at work, with relief crews available from Douglas and Rock Springs," he said.
“This is shaping up to be a severe winter event, even by Wyoming standards,” Mansfield said. “We understand how difficult it is for customers to be without power in these conditions, and we will work steadily throughout the event to restore customers to service."
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