PSE prepared for six week closure of Hood Canal Bridge
PORT TOWNSEND, Wash. (May 1, 2009) – With the May 1 closure of the Hood Canal Bridge, Puget Sound Energy isn’t taking any chances.
In preparation for the six-week closure, PSE has staged two additional crews along with materials and service vehicles at the utility’s Port Townsend Service Center. Positioning a tree crew and a line crew on this side of the Hood Canal will allow PSE to respond to an outage or other electric emergency without having to transport crews or material via the lengthy alternate routes.
“With the bridge closure, our crews are ready to respond to outages and keep pace with our scheduled improvements,” said Tim Caldwell, community partnership manager at PSE.
In addition to having normal response times to emergencies, the crews will work on scheduled infrastructure improvements in the county. The projects include routine tree trimming, system maintenance and upgrades, and replacement of power poles and underground cable. PSE will utilize a local firm to handle requests for basic new construction and for locating utilities.
In the event that the utility requires additional personnel in Jefferson County, PSE has arranged emergency transportation with the passenger water shuttle running from Lofall in Kitsap County across Hood Canal to South Point in Jefferson County.
For information about PSE in Jefferson County visit PSE.com.
Media contact
Tim Caldwell, 360-385-6366
About Puget Sound Energy
Washington state’s oldest and largest energy utility, with a 6,000-square-mile service area stretching across 11 counties, Puget Sound Energy serves more than 1 million electric customers and nearly 750,000 natural gas customers. PSE, a subsidiary of Puget Energy, meets the energy needs of its growing customer base primarily in Western Washington through incremental, cost-effective energy conservation, procurement of sustainable energy resources, and far-sighted investment in the energy-delivery infrastructure. PSE employees are dedicated to providing great customer service to deliver energy that is safe, reliable, reasonably priced, and environmentally responsible.