Thousands impacted by Sunday power outage

A Sunday afternoon power outage at one point left as many as 2,982 Idaho Power customers and a little over 3,000 City of Weiser power customers waiting for the lights to come back on.

 Relying on information gleaned from Idaho Power’s outage maps on Sunday, power went out to customers on the Oregon Side and west Weiser Flat as early as 12:30 p.m. By 3 p.m., power had also been shut off to Weiser and points east of town, as well as the outage maps showing Payette and Ontario areas also affected.

 Early outage maps indicated the cause as being under investigation, with it eventually pinpointed to a vehicle accident somewhere on a backroad southwest of Highway 201 inside the area of the Annex Fire District, and power company crews on scene before 3:30 p.m.

 Power was fully restored throughout the area by 6 p.m.

 The Signal American made a call to Idaho Power first thing Monday morning, Dec. 23, but the company spokesperson wasn’t able to provide any further information on the outage or its cause.