Hundreds of homes in and around Canby experienced a series of brief, intermittent power outages last week, which officials ultimately linked to a downed tree in a neighboring community.
Those affected experienced four to five outages, each lasting less than 30 seconds, between 9 p.m. and midnight on Sunday, May 7.
While many residents have become accustomed to outages during bouts of particularly bad weather, especially those who lived through the record-breaking ice storm of 2021, these blackouts stood out as they occurred during a clear, calm and relatively windless night.
Neighborhoods throughout Canby, served by Canby Utility, began reporting the outages on Facebook shortly after 9 p.m., while homes east of Canby, which primarily receive power from Portland General Electric, were also affected.
Local utility officials reported that the issue appeared to be related to PGE transmission lines that feed Canby Utility’s substations, which PGE officials confirmed Tuesday morning.
PGE spokesman Drew Hanson said approximately 1,600 PGE customers in West Linn lost power that Sunday due to a tree on a line. Crews were immediately dispatched to make repairs, which were completed by 1 a.m.
“During this event, protective equipment on a PGE transmission line that serves Canby responded to faults twice, resulting in momentary outages for customers in the Canby area,” Hanson said. “We appreciate our customer’s patience and understanding as crews worked quickly and safely to restore service.”