Portland Transportation Officials Warn Power Outages Could Leave West Hills in Darkness

Utility companies will turn off power lines—and streetlights—to reduce the risk of wildfire as vicious winds approach.

City emergency officials fear a fire started in Forest Park could prove disastrous. (BRIAN BROSE) (Brian Brose)
By Sophie Peel

Ahead of planned power outages by utility companies this week aimed to prevent downed power lines from starting a wildfire at the edge of the city, Portland city officials are warning drivers that the winding roads in the West Hills could be especially treacherous to navigate without street lighting and stoplights.

Portland General Electric is expected to turn off its power lines on Friday morning, and estimates up to 30,000 households could lose power. Swaths of the West Hills—which contain a series of winding, steep and narrow roads—are included in the outage.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation says PGE is expected to turn off power in the area “roughly from the intersection of SW Skyline and U.S. 26, north to NW Skyline and Thompson.”

A number of utility companies are planning to shut off electricity across areas of Oregon this week and into next due to especially vicious east winds, which increase the chance of wildfire. Similar conditions sparked the Beachie Creek Fire, which destroyed cherished woods and choked Portland with smoke for a week in 2020.

You can see if your area is affected at this link. PBOT also provided this map:

Expected outages in Portland's West Hills. (Portland Bureau of Transportation)

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