Avista Gets Underway With 'Relight' of Natural gas Customers - bigcountrynewsconnection.com

Avista Gets Underway With 'Relight' of Natural gas Customers | Idaho | bigcountrynewsconnection.com

PULLMAN - The operator of the natural gas pipeline that was damaged near Pullman said on Thursday evening that repairs to the pipeline had been completed and Avista Utilities said Friday morning that had begun to "relight" customers in some areas.

Just past noon on Wednesday, a gas line was hit by an excavator north of Pullman. The incident would eventually force Avista to cut natural gas service to over 36,000 customers.

"An assessment and repair team was quickly mobilized to repair the damage to the pipeline, and as of today, the repairs have been successfully completed," said a representative from Williams, the company who operates the pipeline and provides natural gas to Avista.

An Avista representative said Friday morning that the company has begun to "relight" customers in some areas, even as the company still working to complete shutting off all of the gas meters in other areas. The company released maps showing estimated times for service restoration for the entire impacted area. You can find the maps below.

Avista says the Wednesday incident near Pullman cut their ability to serve customers in the Lewiston, Clarkston, Asotin, Pullman, Moscow, Albion, Palouse, Uniontown, Colton, Genesee, Troy, Bovill, and Deary regions. At around 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Avista customers in the LC Valley and around the region began to report losing service. The company says the incident is the largest natural gas outage in their history.

Only an Avista representative can turn meters back on. The company says all field personnel conducting relights will have identification. Once relit, personnel will check the appliances in the residence. If the resident is not home, Avista will leave a card on the door upon the last attempt for the day, inviting the customer to call Avista so someone can come back to relight. Customers do not need to schedule their relights. There is no cost to customers for relights or gas restoration activity.

With the help of over 400 crew members addressing restoration efforts, Avista is relighting natural gas appliances between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. The complete natural gas restoration for Avista customers is estimated to be complete by end of day Tuesday. Customers will receive notification within 24 hours of their planned relight that crews are headed to their zone.