Avista relight progress

PULLMAN — Avista reported Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 4:30 p.m., that they had restored natural gas appliances for 32,000 customers in all Palouse and Lewiston/Clarkston Valley service zones affected by the damage to the Williams Pipeline at the intersection of US 195 and Albion Road to Pullman on Wednesday, Nov. 8.

Reports state that an excavator struck the gas line about 1 mile south of Carothers Road at milepost 27 at approximately 12:40 p.m. on Wednesday, causing a leak.

At time of press Tuesday, Nov. 14 Avista reported less than 250 customers remaining for an initial visit, which was expected to be finished Tuesday evening.

Avista reported approximately 3,500 re-lights remained for customers unavailable during initial attempts to light.

“We are extremely grateful to our customers for their patience and support throughout the past week,” Avista President and Chief Operating Officer Heather Rosentrater said, noting that this was a difficult time for residents and business owners in the Palouse and L/C Valley. “We want the entire community to know that the kindness our service teams experienced was witnessed and felt,” she said.

Avista urged residents and businesses who were not home during their initial attempts to call 1-800-227-9187 at their earliest convenience to have someone re-light.

“We are extremely proud of our employees, mutual aid partners, and local HVAC contractors for accomplishing this extraordinary effort,” Rosentrater said, noting that they will forever be grateful, “It took thousands of work hours to restore services,” she said.

Senior Communications Manager for Avista, Jared Webley, told the Gazette the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 14, that they were above 30,000 during that time.

Webley said that they’ve had the help of over 400 crew members and over eight partner utilities across the state in going home to home to re-light natural gas appliances.

Customers will receive notification within 24 hours of a plan to re-light, all field personnel will have identification, and Avista will check all appliances in the residence once re-lit.

“Some of the messaging we are emphasizing over and over is asking the customers not to turn on their gas,” Webley told the Gazette Friday, Nov. 10, noting that customers impacted should not turn on the gas themselves, light the pilot light under any circumstances, or use outdoor grills. “All of our efforts are really focused on restoration.

Webley told the Gazette Monday morning that they were looking at the end of Monday for all the initial relights and would go back next week to finish the ones were customers were absent when servicemen arrived.

Avista had restored natural gas service to approximately 15,000 customers affected by the damage to the natural gas line as of Sunday, Nov. 12.

Williams Pipeline repaired the pipeline on Thursday, Nov. 9.

Reports say the teams can do more than five re-lights an hour, reaching 900 per hour throughout the region.

According to reports, Avista has received reports of scams from affected customers. A GoFundMe account allegedly was established to help Avista workers facing unexpected financial challenges. Reports state that this is not an Avista-authorized account or effort.

Customers are advised to be on alert for such scams and continue to report suspicious requests or interactions with anyone claiming to be affiliated with the company.

Local Whitman County community resources stepped up to help keep those affected warm with warming centers.

Palouse Community Center in Palouse is open, as is the Albion Community Center. The Compton Union Building (CUB) is available 24 hours a day until otherwise posted.

The Colfax branch of the Whitman County Library (WCL) is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The director of Colfax Council on Aging, Paige Collins, said that they have been handing out space heaters to those needing heat, and as of Monday, Nov. 13, they had 20 left, having already handed out and delivered 80.

“Our staff really stepped up to deliver space heaters all across the county,” Collins said, noting that they received blankets from Avista to hand out on Monday, Nov. 13. “We have 200 blankets, really nice queen-sized blankets if people need them.”

Council on Aging sent some of the blankets to the Pullman and Colfax Fire Departments local police, “we reached out to everyone we could think of,” Collins said.

Collins said she is impressed with how Avista has reacted to this incident and how quickly they’ve responded to getting everyone affected what they need and the situation fixed. “There were more Avista vehicles on the road than other vehicles,” she added.

Council on Aging is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day. “If people need space heaters or blankets, we have them,” she said, noting that if anyone can’t get them, they can call, and the staff will deliver and find a way to get them to those in need.