As I write this on New Year’s Eve, I am ready to say goodbye to the challenging and stormy ending to 2025. For this letter to appear in this edition of Ruralite, I submitted it just days after a December 17 windstorm resulting in the most widespread outage and system damage our cooperative has ever experienced.
Winds exceeding 80 mph and saturated soils toppled trees and poles, damaging critical infrastructure across our entire system, which spans 5,000 square miles.
The beautiful but incredibly rural and rugged landscape we serve brings challenges when it comes to providing power. We work year-round to maintain rights of way and improve the reliability of our system. Still, when we experience a significant and severe weather event like this, those challenges are amplified.
Clearwater Power maintains more than 3,000 miles of lines across 11 counties in three states, and every main distribution line was impacted. Additionally, fallen trees blocked roads and access points, and additional snow and wind following the initial event slowed repairs. Our Clearwater Power lineworkers worked 24 to 36 hours straight before mutual aid crews arrived, quadrupling our workforce.
We recognize the inconvenience and uncertainty this brought, especially during the holidays. Some of you were impacted more than others. I am deeply grateful for your patience, resilience, and support. Local restaurants provided hot meals and sack lunches, members offered hot coffee and assistance, and countless others offered encouragement and thanks.
Like you, I was grateful for our committed employees, contracted partners, and cooperative network members who sent crews to our aid. Some crews worked to restore power through Christmas Day and continued working through the following weekend, away from their families, to replace poles and make repairs necessary to maintain the system’s integrity ahead of additional forecasted snow and colder temperatures.
By the time you read this letter, I trust that work has continued, our crews have had a chance to rest and recover, and it is back to normal business. It will be months before we realize the full impact of this event, and you will see more details in future Ruralite editions. For now, know that we remain committed to serving you—our member-owners—in 2026 and beyond.
Thank You To Our Mutual Aid Partners
Contractors and neighboring cooperatives who joined us to restore power include:
- Benton Rural Electric Association, a Tri-Cities area cooperative
- Big Bend Electric Cooperative in Ritzville, Washington
- Columbia Rural Electric Association, a cooperative in Walla Walla, Washington
- Kootenai Electric Cooperative from Rathdrum, Idaho
- Sturgeon Electric contracted journeyman lineworkers
- International Line Builders contracted journeyman lineworkers
- Hillcrest Aircraft Company
- Asplundh Tree Experts, with local crews and additional crews from Montana
Telly Stanger, Clearwater Power CEO