CEC Works to Keep Members Safe During Wildfire Season

During this 2021 fire season, Central Electric Cooperative members living in high-risk wildfire areas, including Sisters, Camp Sherman, Lone Pine, Marks Creek, and Ochocos, may experience more power outages than average.

This summer’s severe weather and heightened drought conditions warrant CEC proactively exercising an abundance of caution to help ensure members’ and their communities’ safety.

As part of its comprehensive Wildfire Mitigation Plan, CEC has implemented preventive safety measures, including setting over 100 reclosers to more sensitive settings on various distribution power lines throughout its service territory.

Reclosers are active protection devices that automatically and momentarily shut off electric power when a fault occurs, likely caused by a lightning strike, surges, or when a foreign object contacts a power line, and then automatically reenergizes the line.

With reclosers set to more sensitive settings, they will not automatically reenergize the power lines resulting in more outages. Also, CEC crews must perform visual inspections of the lines before manually restoring electric power, thus creating longer restoration times.

CEC appreciates your patience and understanding as we navigate this difficult fire season to keep you and the general public safe.

To learn more about CEC’s ongoing efforts, please see:

CEC’s Wildfire Mitigation Plan

CEC’s Public Safety Power Shutoff Plan

Should you have any questions, please call a customer service representative at (541) 548-2144.