Currently, wildfires are burning in many areas, which impact people in and around OTEC service territory (Baker, Grant, Union, and Harney counties). The OTEC team is actively engaged and monitoring these fires.

We are aware that many power companies around us have initiated Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) in order to safeguard property and equipment that are under immediate threat of fire and in high-risk areas.

At this time, OTEC does not have plans to de-energize any of our lines. However, the PSPS activity around us by other companies could impact OTEC’s power supply and the situation is highly volatile and could change rapidly. If there are other impacts to our system, we will alert member-owners as soon as we can. If an unexpected outage occurs, please call it in to our 24-7 outage hotline 1-866-430-4265.

The time to prepare is now. While we do not anticipate the need to cut power, there is always a chance during a wildfire emergency that you could lose power for potentially extended periods of time. We urge you to prepare now for the unknown.

We also encourage you to familiarize yourself with the evacuation levels and prepare in case you are ordered to evacuate. Even if you are not currently in an evacuation area, stay aware and up to date on status of evacuations, emergency resources and road closures.

Again, at this time we do not plan to de-energize any of our OTEC power lines, but situations and plans can change rapidly. We will continue to monitor the situation and will update if conditions shift or we have additional information. Please follow us on Facebook for breaking alerts: facebook.com/OTECoop

Tips for preparing for a power outage:

• Fully charge cell phones.
• Gather food, medical supplies, batteries, pet supplies, among other things, needed by family members during an outage or evacuation.
• Fuel up your vehicle – do not wait until a power outage as fuel stations may lose power as well.
• Make sure OTEC has your current contact information for notifications
• More info can be found on Oregon’s Be 2 Weeks Ready website: https://www.oregon.gov/oem/hazardsprep/Pages/2-Weeks-Ready.aspx

Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected, especially the brave firefighters and other emergency personnel who are working to keep our communities safe.

Learn more about OTEC, Wildfire Safety, and Public Safety Power Shutoffs on our website, www.otec.coop.

Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative, putting our energy to work for you!

About the cooperative

Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC) is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperative that serves nearly 60,000 residents in four counties in Eastern Oregon. Headquartered in Baker City, OTEC has district offices in Burns, John Day, and La Grande.