NorthWestern Energy plans March 5 outage

NorthWestern Energy officials announced last week a planned four-hour long power outage next month in the Whitehall area.

The outage will take place Tuesday, March 5 starting at 1 a.m. and will impact an area that will cover the town of Whitehall and Whitehall Valley west to Pipestone Pass and east to the Golden Sunlight. According to a release from the company, Interstate 90 is the general northern boundary, extending south of Highway 55 near Forcella Lane and across the Jefferson River near Point of Rock and Kountz Roads.

Vigilante Electric Cooperative members north and east of Whitehall, including the Cardwell area, will be affected by this outage.

At the Community Transition Advisory Committee meeting last week, Paul Babb of NorthWestern Energy said the work done during the outage is part of a realignment of transmission lines. The release states the work during the outage is necessary to continue to deliver reliable service to customers and to avoid longer, unplanned outages in the future.

Babb added the importance of spreading the word about the outage so people can plan accordingly.

Bandi Sparks of NorthWestern Energy said if they have to cancel the outage because of weather, that decision would be made by Friday, March 1.

For any questions or concerns, call the NorthWestern Energy Customer Contact Center at 1-888-467-2669.