About 50 frustrated Pacific Power customers filed into a stuffy conference room in the Jefferson County Public Health building in Madras Thursday to express concern about local power outages stemming from new wildfire precautions.

Pacific Power said seven outages in June were caused by enhanced safety settings that are designed to help prevent wildfires. The outages affected more than 2,800 customers, the company said.

“It’s unacceptable, what those of us are living through,” Charles Williams, who lives just outside Metolius, said during the town hall. “It’s unsafe for us – these constant outage(s).”

Residents in fire-prone areas are finding their daily lives disrupted with increased frequency by safety protocols after recent major fires that have resulted in lawsuits against power companies. Companies are worried about sparking wildfires and taking extra precautions, but that means some time without power.

The enhanced safety settings shut off power when a line is disturbed by things like branches or wildlife in order to avoid sparking a wildfire. Power isn’t restored until a person inspects the line to make sure a fire hasn’t started, which can sometimes take hours.

“We are going to err on the side of safety,” said Erin Isselmann, Pacific Power vice president of communications, customer and community affairs. “We want to make sure that our customers are safe and that we do not cause or contribute to any wildfire.”

After Oregon’s winter left little snowpack and a potential super El Niño weather pattern on the way that could bring more lightning, Gov. Tina Kotek declared a statewide state of emergency due to extreme wildfire risk.

PacifiCorp, Pacific Power’s parent company owned by Berkshire Hathaway, has faced lawsuits over wildfires allegedly sparked by its power lines. A class-action suit over the 2020 Labor Day fires, with total liabilities of more than $1 billion, is pending before the Oregon Supreme Court.

Residents at the meeting last night told the company they were fed up with the number of recent outages and concerned about the enhanced safety settings.

“It all makes sense, but it seems like it’s way too over the top on sensitivity,” said Paul Patton, a customer who lives outside of Madras and was affected by the outages.

Residents, many from the community of Metolius, expressed frustration about lost business revenue, lost water when farm irrigation equipment turns off, broken appliances and spoiled food.

“When power goes out, (people) can’t do their farming, people on medical equipment can’t use their devices,” said Metolius Mayor Shawn Stanfill in an interview, and said that the small town of 888 residents grinds to a halt. “All of it stops,” he said.

Stanfill said during last night’s meeting he has a backup generator to help navigate the power outages, but Patton said not everyone can afford to purchase one.

Pacific Power has a rebate program to help residential and commercial customers purchase a generator for medical reasons but not for customers experiencing frequent power outages.

Isselmann said during the town hall it’s something she’ll discuss with her team and see what the company can do to address the request for a broader rebate program.

The company has also initiated a review on the Madras service area and is adjusting sensitivity levels and adding technology that will help the company restore power faster, Pacific Power representative Simon Gutierrez told OPB.

Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce Director Debbie Taylor lauded Pacific Power for holding the town hall.

“They don’t do this for every community,” she said.

At the meeting, Taylor encouraged residents to sign up for cell phone emergency notifications as fire season gets underway and power outages are likely to continue.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/06/27/pacific-power-town-hall-outages-central-oregon/