With temperatures well below zero, Avista asks both electric and natural gas customers to conserve power

Jan. 13—As Spokane residents deal with the coldest weather in more than a year, Avista Utilities asked its customers Saturday to conserve natural gas and electricity until late Sunday morning because of constraints from high usage, weather concerns and a natural gas supply problem that has since been fixed.

Avista spokesman Jared Webley asked customers to reduce their thermostat setting by at least 2 degrees, turn off heat to areas of the home that are not in use and limit hot water usage.

For examples, Webley said limiting showers or taking shorter showers, running cold water for washing machines and reducing dishwasher use are ways to limit energy usage.

"We appreciate our customers' previous and continued efforts to conserve energy during this emergency situation," said Heather Rosentrater, Avista president and chief operating officer, in a prepared statement. "These efforts are making a difference and will continue to contribute to our energy system's stability."

Inland Power and Light Co. also asked customers to conserve energy during the cold snap to minimize the risk of overloading the electric system, which caused outages Saturday.

"Utilities across the region are experiencing outages due to the electric system being greatly overloaded by extreme energy use," Inland Power and Light posted on its Facebook page Saturday.

It added, "If everyone reduces their energy use a little bit, it will have a massive positive impact."

In addition to some of Avista's requests, Inland Power and Light's Facebook page asked customers to unplug and turn off lights and other items that require electricity.

More than 450 Avista customers, nearly 600 Northern Lights customers and 80 Inland Power and Light customers were without power at about 7 p.m. Saturday. All Kootenai Electric Cooperative and Pend Oreille Public Utility District customers had power at that time.

An Avista news release Friday night said a pipeline company Avista relies on for natural gas was experiencing a mechanical problem. The pipeline supplier's issue was affecting Avista's ability to supply natural gas to customers' homes and businesses, according to an Avista news release.

Avista announced Saturday night that its natural gas supplier, TC Energy (formally TransCanada Corporation), repaired the mechanical problems with its natural gas compressor stations.

The company's local gas system is safe and was not damaged by the third party's equipment issue, Avista officials said.

Avista said it would update customers on the situation Sunday.

Temperatures dipped well below zero Saturday morning, including minus-10 degrees Fahrenheit at the Spokane International Airport, slightly warmer than the record cold for Jan. 13 of minus-13, said Valerie Thaler, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Spokane.

As of 2 p.m. Saturday, the high at the airport was 1 degree.

Elsewhere in the region, Felts Field dropped to minus-8, Deer Park fell to minus-21, Coeur d'Alene was minus-15 and Pullman was minus-20.

Temperatures will remain frigid Sunday, with the forecast showing a low of minus-4 and a high of 7 at the Spokane International Airport.

Given the cold temperatures, customers who need additional support are encouraged to call 211. They can also visit www.wa211.org or www.211.idaho.gov.

Saturday morning's low was the coldest temperature Spokane has reached since Dec. 22, 2022, when the temperature also fell to minus-10, Thaler said.

It's the second time in the past few months that Avista has had to scramble as a result of natural gas pipeline problem.

Nearly 37,000 Avista customers lost natural gas service on Nov. 9 after a landowner attempting to install a drainage pipe ruptured a natural gas pipeline owned by Williams Pipeline between Colfax and Pullman. The outage left many residents without heat and forced some restaurants and schools to close, including the University of Idaho.

To restore service, Avista workers had to go door-to-door to manually shut off gas at each address, then return to relight after repressurizing the pipeline. The last customers were restored six days later. That pipeline was owned and operated by Williams Pipeline, which is contracted by Avista to provide wholesale natural gas to customers in the Palouse and Lewiston/Clarkston Valley.

Because of the freezing temperatures, Spokane Interim Fire Chief Julie O'Berg said firefighters were dispatched to more welfare checks and cold exposure calls than a typical Saturday.

The extremely cold weather also affects fire crews' equipment, like a breathing apparatus, and can slow firefighting operations, she said.

The frigid temperatures also caused pipes to burst and businesses to close in North Idaho.

A sprinkler system pipe burst Saturday morning at the Post Falls Goodwill, turning the entryway into an "ice skating rink," said Heather Alexander, vice president of marketing and communications at Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest.

Alexander said the store shut down Saturday and will be closed at least through Sunday as crews assess the damage, clean up and make repairs.

Luckily, Alexander said merchandise was not damaged.

Super 1 Foods in Rathdrum temporarily closed Saturday because of a water line burst. The grocery store reopened by Saturday afternoon.

Northern Lakes Fire District Battalion Chief Brad Belmont said the store was evacuated after the burst because of the "massive water leak," which affected electrical systems.