SALT LAKE CITY — Rocky Mountain Power has restored power for more than 100,000 customers who lost service in Tuesday's down slope wind event, but more than 51,000 customers are still without electricity Thursday.
"Restoration efforts continue around the clock. Customers without service should prepare to be without power through the night and into Thursday," a message on Rocky Mountain Power's website said.
Rocky Mountain Power spokesman Spencer Hall said the company expects to have power restored to the majority of those customers Thursday night, but some will not have electricity until Friday.
As of Thursday, there are over 3,400 outages across Utah.
Crews from Rocky Mountain Power's sister companies, including crews from out of state, are assisting RMP to restore power. Hall said the restoration efforts over the last two days have been focused on repairing the company's infrastructure.
"The last two days have been about fixing the backbone. They've been about fixing the transmission, fixing the substations, getting a lot of the trees and debris cleared. And now we're able to go in and do these one-by-one reconnections and get folks back on," Hall said.
Hall thanked the public for their patience and goodwill during the repair efforts.
The massive power outage coincided with unseasonably cool weather, as overnight temperatures dipped as low as 42 degrees in the Salt Lake City area Wednesday morning, which left many people feeling chilly as the storm recovery efforts continued.
RMP crews are prioritizing the repair of power lines that affect the largest number of customers.
"That monstrosity of a tree decided, after 100 years, to fall over, and when it fell over it took three poles out and a bunch of wire," said Travis Hiatt, a Rocky Mountain Power lineman who showed FOX 13 an example of the damage caused in Tuesday's hurricane-force windstorm.
Fortunately, temperatures are climbing again as the weekend approaches and RMP crews continue to restore electricity to the affected customers. Click here to check the forecast in your area and click here to check for updates on Utah's power outages.
