When you call the PUD to report power outages after hours or on weekends, you will soon be calling the dispatch center of the Klickitat County Sheriff's Office. While the numbers you call will remain the same, the people on the other end of the line will not.

Improved communications and increased safety are two of the key reasons for the switch from the current answering service to the Sheriff's Office. In addition, KPUD's service territories closely match the districts served by the Sheriff's office, and dispatchers are already familiar with the area, making it easier for the dispatchers to direct KPUD repair crews in case of a problem or outage.

"If there is an accident, direct communication is beneficial for everyone," said Chris Mace, Klickitat County Sheriff, adding that the dispatchers often call KPUD crews out to fires involving downed lines or power poles.

"With the new system, if someone hits a pole, the dispatchers can tell us what size pole, the location, and how many customers the line feeds," said Ron Ihrig, KPUD Operations Manager. "This will save us an immense amount of time, because they can provide information to the crews while they are at the warehouse, so they take the materials they will need, rather than having to travel to the site, determine what they need, and go back to the warehouse for it."

To enable this sharing of information, dispatchers will be using the mapping system currently used by KPUD, which shows all power lines and poles, customer locations and addresses, feeder areas (showing which lines serve which areas) and roads.

"Rather than just knowing there are a bunch of outages, it allows dispatchers to look the locations up on a map, and determine whether they are part of a related problem, or separate problems or outages," said Ihrig.

KPUD will be putting a separate line into the dispatch center, and a computer with the mapping program on it. The phone line will be answered "PUD after hours…" One difference will be that there will be at least 2 people on duty to answer calls, rather than the one person there is with the current service.

The safety of KPUD line crews will also be increased by the change in service. When a call comes in, Sheriff's Office dispatchers will call out the crew. They will then communicate with them at the warehouse, en route, and while they are working on the problem. They will know where they are, when they need additional assistance, and if they run into any unforeseen problems.

The switch is tentatively scheduled for April 1. Wheeler Communications is putting in the phone line, and integrating the radio systems of KPUD and the Sheriff's Office. Some training has taken place, and more is schedule for the monthly department team meetings at the Sheriff's Office on March 27-28. CanMap, the company who designed KPUD's mapping system, will participate in the training.

The phone numbers to call in case of outages will remain the same, and dispatchers will still be asking for the caller's name, address and phone number, and the nature of the problem. Once the problem is fixed, KPUD crews will go through the callback list and make sure that all callers have had power restored.

After hours the Sheriff's Office dispatchers will also call out crews for reported water/wastewater problems.

"Spring is a lighter outage season, and a great time to get started with the new service," said Ihrig. KPUD receives an average of 146 after-hours calls per month to report problems. Most of these calls come during the winter months, when weather can cause outages.

The Sheriff's Office handles dispatch for both hospitals in Klickitat County, 14 fire departments, all of the city police departments and parks in the county, as well as emergency callouts for all of the city utilities. Dispatchers work 12-hour shifts, from 6-6, on a rotating basis.

For major outages and weather problems, the phones will be switched back to KPUD's offices, and KPUD staff will man the phones during those times. Oftentimes multiple KPUD crews are out simultaneously, and KPUD is more familiar with the procedures for directing crews during those times.

Numbers to call
Goldendale
773-4940
1-800-548-8357
White Salmon
1-800-548-8358
If there is an emergency involving power lines
and a person's life is in danger, please call 911
before calling KPUD.