A power outage has once again struck Portland General Electric customers in western Washington county in the Gales Creek, Banks, and North Plains area, according to the PGE outage map.
In the Gales Creek area, close to 800 customers were without power, with an estimated restoration time of 5:30 p.m.
The Forest Grove School District’s Oak Grove facility at the Gales Creek School was also without power, but because the outage happened so close to the program’s release time, students were expected to end the school day at the regular time, according to FGSD spokesperson David Warner, who spoke to the Gales Creek Journal by phone.
High winds earlier in the week also resulted in numerous outages for both Portland General and West Oregon Electric Co-Op customers throughout the region.
In Banks and North Plains and the rural areas surrounding them, close to 3,500 customers were without power starting after 1:15 p.m. with the cause under investigation. Estimated times for restoration, which often change, were listed at 4:30 p.m. for Banks and 5:!5 p.m. for North Plains.
In Banks, the Banks School District said that all power was out, which was also affecting phone and internet service.
“All schools will dismiss at the regular time,” the district said in an alert.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
