Arctic blast puts freeze on Sisters region

A blast of Arctic air running behind a ridge of high pressure plunged temperatures to below-zero territory late last week. Just as Sisters area residents were getting used to mild, spring-like weather, the cold snap jerked them abruptly back into winter.

Frozen pipes caused headaches for some and drivers had to slow down and take care on newly icy roads.

Central Electric Cooperative reported two outages on Sunday, February 19, one affecting 15 to 20 accounts in Sage Meadow for about an hour and a half and another affecting 25 to 30 Black Butte Ranch accounts for about four hours.

“That was a cable failure,” said CEC spokesman Jim Crowell regarding the Black Butte Ranch outage.

Cold doesn’t actually snap underground electrical cables, Crowell said. Cables deteriorate over time, sometimes helped along by gophers chewing on them. Some lines are spliced in repairs.

When such lines get hit with heavy loads, such as a severe cold snap that boosts usage for heating, the vulnerable cables can fail.

According to Crowell, the Black Butte Ranch cable appears to have failed at a splice.

The Sage Meadow outage was due to a failed switch.

There were, however, no rolling blackouts.

Media reports on Friday, February 17, incorrectly indicated that CEC was planning for rolling blackouts — staged shutdowns of parts due to a heavy power load.

The electrical system in Sisters is always strained to a degree during cold weather because it carries “a huge heat load” since almost everyone uses electricity for heat in the area, Crowell said.

However, the system did not approach the peak load of 190-195 megawatts that would have required a decision to initiate rolling blackouts.

CEC is locked in a dispute with the Cyrus family over upgrading lines that cross Cyrus property to serve the Sisters area.

Crowell said that Sisters area residents can help reduce loads in cold weather, especially when they hit their weekday peak at 7 a.m.

“If they can keep as many lights off as possible and maybe the TV off at 7 a.m., that’d really help,” he said.

Temperatures were on the rise on Monday. While it was to remain chilly in Sisters through the week, temperatures by mid-week were expected to return to highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s — fairly average for this time of year.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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