PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — David Buchannan said he was first notified about the work and the potential for power interruptions at his North Portland home August 8. He said he called Pacific Power and was assured that they would not lose power.
But Monday morning crews rolled up, got to work on the pole, and Buchanan and his family lost power. He said he called Pacific Power and several city departments to find out why this happened, but got no real answers.
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“It’s not fun to be in the heat and sweating inside your house instead of I mean, like, if you choose to be outside or you don’t have AC, etc,” Buchanan said. “That’s a choice you’re making about the heat rather than being forced to endure heat when you don’t want to.”
RiverLine Power, the company doing the work on the street, told KOIN 6 News this work was planned 45 days in advance in coordination with Pacific Power and PBOT, and had to happen Monday. PBOT said this work was originally scheduled for August 4, but RiverLine said PacifiCorp changed the date to Monday.
In a statement, a PacifiCorp spokesperson said the planned interruption was necessary to replace a transmission pole, and impacted 10 customers. The statement said, “We understand losing power can be a hardship and we do everything we can to minimize the impact on customers.”…