A planned power outage in Rexburg this weekend will impact 1,745 Rocky Mountain Power customers
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REXBURG – Rocky Mountain Power customers in Rexburg received an outbound call over the weekend notifying them of a planned power outage Sunday, Nov. 18.
Dave Eskelsen, a spokesman for Rocky Mountain Power, tells EastIdahoNews.com 1,745 customers living in the area between 700 S. and Main Street and between 5th W. and U.S. Highway 20 will be without power between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. while crews work to install a power line.
“The nature of the work requires them to de-energize the circuits in order to do it safely,” Eskelsen says. “We will be installing a larger capacity transmission line from Rigby to the Rexburg substation.”
The reason for the lengthy outage, Eskelsen says, is because they will also be replacing a structure and reconfiguring distribution circuits. The project will increase the capacity of the line to deliver energy to customers.
“We are making these upgrades to provide for the growing needs of customers and to provide for future growth as well,” Eskelsen says. “(We’ve determined) it is better to do the whole project at once, rather than have multiple outages over several days.”
Rocky Mountain Power apologizes for the inconvenience. Eskelsen says this type of outage is rare and they are working to minimize the area affected as much as possible.
Those with specific medical needs must be prepared with an alternative plan. Eskelsen says it’s important to have an alternative source of light and heat, as well as an emergency outage kit. If you’d like more information, visit Rocky Mountain Power’s website.