09/01/2025: RED FLAG WARNING EXPIRED

The Red Flag Warning issued by the NWS has expired, and the OCEC Operations crew has returned our system to the “Yellow” level per our Wildfire Mitigation Plan.

If you would like to review our Wildfire Mitigation Plan you can find it under the “Quick Links” below.

To report an outage, please call our office at 509-996-2228.

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8/31/2025: RED FLAG WARNING ISSUED

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for North Central Washington, including the OCEC service territory within the Methow Valley (Zone 704). As a result of this red flag warning, OCEC is moving to the “Red” level of our Wildfire Mitigation Plan. The Warning is in effect from 9 PM Sunday 8/31 to 11 AM PDT Monday, September 1st..

Operations has set all automated line reclosers, including the Substations, to “non-reclose” following our Wildfire Mitigation Plan. Disabling reclosers, either in elevated fire risk or red flag warning conditions, has the effect of both lengthening the duration and increasing the number of outages while minimizing the risk of fire. A recloser is an automatic high-voltage electric switch that operates much like a circuit breaker in your home. When the reclosers are set on “non-reclose” the breaker will operate/open, and the line will be de-energized until OCEC crews can manually inspect the line for problems. Once the line is manually inspected and is confirmed all-clear, the line will be re-energized. This will possibly create longer, more frequent outages during these times.

Taking these proactive fire safety steps may cause more frequent and longer outages, but we hope that our members will understand that the benefits of reduced fire risk outweigh the increase in possible outages.

When the red flag warning expires, or conditions change enough to warrant it, the OCEC Operations crew will return to “Yellow” level, and OCEC will update our website to reflect the current status. For more information, you can view the alert at NWS WARNING (offsite link) and you can review our full Wildfire Mitigation Plan below under the ‘quick links’ heading.

To report an outage, please call our office at (509) 996-2228.

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OCEC CONTRACTS WITH OUTSIDE CREWS

(updated 6/23/25)

• Olympic Electric is in our area performing pole replacements for the fiber build-out project. During the next few months, Members will experience sporadic power outages throughout the ARPA grant project boundary (see methownet.com for boundary map). OCEC will attempt to notify those members in advance of the day and estimate the duration of the planned outage.
  • Olympic teams will be working from 6:30am through 5:00pm. If you experience an outage *outside* of this time frame, or you were not contacted regarding a planned outage, please call our office at 509-996-2228.
  • Our office staff will be aware of the location where the contractors will be working every week.

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RATE INFORMATION

Check out our RATES page for information and updates on Demand and Rate Changes

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