Power outages reported throughout Montana during windstorm

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – Several energy providers reported power outages throughout Montana on Thursday during the windstorm.

Outages varied depending on the region, with Libby reporting the highest concentration of outages. Montana 511 reported downed power lines around Montana.

Providers that reported include NorthWestern Energy, Missoula Electric Cooperative and Flathead Electric Cooperative.

NorthWestern Energy 

NorthWestern Energy reported several small power outages, which affected 1-50 customers, in the areas of Great Falls, Missoula, Billings, Riverdale, Stanford, Raynesford, Milestone.

Several more small outages were reported off I-90 between Spring Gulch and Superior.

Two outages, affecting 61 and 88 customers affected the Circle Bridge area. Another outage affected 58 customers outside Missoula.

The largest outage around 8:30 a.m. on Thursday was in Geraldine, which affected 481 customers.

Missoula Electric Cooperative

Missoula Electric Cooperative reported nearly 480 members without power due to strong winds that started around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday morning.

The company posted around 8 a.m. on Thursday and said the most significant damage happened around the Seeley-Swan Valley.

“Crews are currently responding to a downed powerline near mile marker 57 along Highway 83 and will continue assessing conditions across the area as the morning progresses,” the company wrote in its update.

It also said Missoula-based crews were responding to outages along Highway 12 west of Lolo and in the Petty Creek drainage.

“If you see damage or experience an outage that has not yet been reported, please call the cooperative to let us know. For your safety, always stay well away from downed power lines and anything they may be touching,” the company wrote.

Flathead Electric Cooperative

The Flathead Electric Cooperative reported nearly 5,000 people in Western Montana without power around 8:30 a.m.

Nearly half of those without power were in Libby, where around 2,500 were reported without power. Concentrated areas on US-2 between Libby and Kalispell also reported outages to the Flathead Electric Cooperative.