Snohomish PUD crews help Guam restore power after massive typhoon
Published 1:30 am Monday, July 17, 2023
EVERETT — When the Guam Power Authority, the island’s electricity provider, reached out this spring for help, the Snohomish County PUD answered the call.
On May 24, Typhoon Mawar — the biggest storm to hit the region in 20 years — slammed into the island nation of 170,000.
Winds surpassing 130 mph pummeled the U.S. territory, knocking out power to nearly all of the power company’s 52,000 customers. Residents lost access to cellphone service and running water.
No one died, but hospitals, dialysis centers and U.S. Naval Base Guam had to rely on generator power, the Military Times reported.
The Guam utility reached out to the American Public Power Association, which coordinates a mutual aid network.
The PUD, 5,600 miles away, offered assistance.
“We were the only utility in the contiguous U.S. to respond,” said Kellie Stickney, PUD spokesperson.
Two PUD crews — 15 line workers, equipment operators and mechanics — were dispatched to the island, located 1,500 miles south of Japan, Stickney said.
Their tools traveled separately.
A 125-foot bucket truck weighing 30 tons, a 105-foot bucket truck and a 20-ton mechanics truck were stowed aboard an Antonov AN-124, a massive cargo plane, that took off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on June 13.
“Helping other utilities in their time of need through mutual aid agreements is an important part of being a public power utility,” said John Haarlow, PUD CEO and general manager.
For the next six weeks, PUD crews put in 16-hour days, Stickney said.
“Our foreman, who’s been with the PUD for 30 years, said he’d never seen damage like this,” Stickney said. “In the Northwest, we’re accustomed to a tree falling on a line. This was a devastating amount of damage caused by incredible winds.”
One of the crews’ first tasks was restoring a key transmission line that runs across the island. At 220 square miles, Guam is about three times the size of Seattle.
President Joe Biden declared the territory a major disaster area on May 26. The designation allows the island’s utilities and others to apply for federal aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
Working alongside utility workers with the Guam Power Authority and mutual aid crews from neighboring islands, PUD workers and others helped restore 97% of the island’s power by the end of June, Stickney said.
The Guam Power Authority will reimburse the PUD for its work, Stickney said.
“It’s important for folks to know that it’s not their rate-paying dollars going toward this,” the spokesperson said. “All of our crews’ time, lodging, as well as the cost of transporting the equipment to Guam, is being paid for by FEMA.”
Despite the absence of two crews last month, the PUD had plenty of staff on hand here, Stickney said.
“In no way did it cause any delays on our planned projects this summer,” she said.
PUD workers were expected home over the weekend. Their equipment will take a slower ocean route and travel by barge, she said.
“It was a sacrifice for the crews to be away from their families,” Stickney said. “This was a significant contribution.”
Janice Podsada: 425-339-3097; jpodsada@heraldnet.com;
