Update: Power restored to all customers affected by outage

Update 12:00 pm: As of Wednesday morning all power has been restored to customers affected by the large scale outage.

Officials say that a fire in a capacitor bank at the Goshen substation near Shelley is the cause of the outage. The cause of that fire is still under investigation.

A second small outage for Lower Valley Energy customers occurred overnight at 1 a.m. but was corrected and power was restored by 2:30 a.m.

Update 9:35 pm: Fall River Electric is reporting power has been restored to all of its customers. Still no word from Lower Valley Energy about the status of power in Jackson and Star Valley.

Update 6:50 pm: Power restored to Rocky Mountain Power customers and Idaho Falls Power customers.

Rocky Mountain Power spokesman said there is a “problem” with getting power to Fall River Electric in eastern Idaho and Lower Valley Energy in Jackson and Star Valley.

Unknown what that problem is, but they’ll be slower coming back on line.

Update 6:31 pm: Officials with Rocky Mountain Power say that power is starting to be restored. They are bringing power back online in segments to ensure stability. They did not have an estimate of how long the process would take.

If your power is not back on yet, do keep devices turned off to reduce strain on the system. Keep a light on to know when power is restored.

Update 5:55 pm: According to Kerry Hammon, the public information officer for the City of Idaho Falls, the problem at the Goshen Substation has been identified. A capacitor bank had a critical failure and is being repaired.

At this time the power companies are asking customers to shut off all electrical devices so when power comes back on it won’t overload the power grid. This includes anything from hot water heater to irrigation systems.

Update 5:29 pm: The outage is also affecting Fall River Electric. The same Goshen substation feeds power to that company as well, so power is out to Jackson, Wyoming, Teton County, West Yellowstone and several other areas.

Update 5:21 pm: Rocky Mountain Power now reports that it has at least 52,000 customers without power. Those numbers do not include Idaho Falls Power Customers. Still no estimate on when power will be restored.

Update: 5:15 pm: Idaho Falls Power is now reporting that the origin of the problem is at Goshen power substation near Shelley. They are still unsure of the cause.

The Goshen substation is the primary transmission source for the entire Upper Valley.

Update 5:07 pm: Rocky Mountain Power is reporting a large scale outage from Shelley to Rexburg. RMP says the outage began at about 4:45 p.m. but they do not know the cause yet. They say at least 33,000 customers are without power. Those numbers do not include Idaho Falls Power customers who are also without power at this time.

Idaho Falls Police are asking that drivers treat all traffic lights as a 4 way stop until power is restored. Several accidents have already been reported because of the outage. IFPD also asks citizens to not call dispatch to report the outage.

We will continue to provide updates as we receive them.

Original Story: Power is reported to be out across a large area from Idaho Falls to Rexburg.

We are still working to get information on what caused the outage and how large the area.