A little over a hundred Talent residents packed into a small library meeting room to air their grievances about a frustrating summer that saw around 17 power outages.
The outages, concentrated in Talent, have been caused because of extra sensitive settings of utility equipment designed to prevent wildfires.
Pacific Power President Ryan Flynn said that one reason Talent faced so many outages compared to other cities in the Rogue Valley is because of the community’s old power infrastructure.
“We have learned a lot about our system in and around Talent,” he said. “And I will say, different communities have developed differently over a century. Other communities are more resilient than what we see here in Talent, and we’ve identified that. And again, we’re actively making those improvements.”
Flynn said they’ve installed around 130 new fault indicators on the power lines, to help pinpoint where an outage might have started.
They’ve also installed more so-called “reclosers” which divide up the power grid into smaller pieces. That means when the power does go out, fewer people are affected.
“I hate to call it luck, but we’ve had a few more tree issues, squirrels, birds, etc. on this side,” said Tom Eide, vice president of operations for Oregon at Pacific Power.
Eide said wildlife deterrents have also been installed, and continue to be retrofitted on older equipment like transformers.
Talent isn’t the only community under Pacific Power’s umbrella that’s seen frequent outages because of these extra sensitive settings. Spokesperson Simon Gutierrez said Jacksonville, Lakeview, parts of the Klamath Basin and parts of Yakima County in Washington have all been dealing with similar issues.
A number of Talent residents were frustrated by the financial impacts they’ve faced because of these outages. Awna Zegzdryn, the owner of restaurant Sweet Beet Station, said every time the power comes back on, her A/C and refrigerators kick into high gear, which raises her utility bill.
“What are you going to do to reimburse me for this huge bill that I have that is not my fault?” said Zegzdryn. “I can’t afford to keep having a $200 increase from last summer – in one month.”
Flynn wouldn't promise reimbursements or discounts from the utility. But, he did say he’d be open to a conversation about that with state lawmakers, including Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, who was moderating the forum.
Flynn also acknowledged that the company’s communication regarding the summer’s outages has been sub-par. He said in the future, they will do a better job of reaching impacted residents over email, text and directly on their utility bills.
“What we learned this year is that we have to be better about communicating during wildfire season,” he said.
