Madras residents packed a Pacific Power town hall on June 25, voicing frustration and anger over a string of power outages that have struck Jefferson County repeatedly since the start of the month — outages the utility attributes to wildfire-prevention safety measures, but which local leaders and farmers say are inflicting serious economic harm with little warning and little recourse.
At least five outages hit the Madras area in June alone. The town hall drew a standing-room crowd, with Jefferson County commissioners and agricultural interests among those pressing Pacific Power representatives for answers.
Safety Settings vs. Economic Reality
Pacific Power representatives acknowledged two causes for the disruptions: equipment problems at a local substation and the triggering of automatic de-energization safety settings designed to reduce the risk of power lines igniting wildfires in dry, windy conditions. “Some of the outages were related to some equipment issues in one of our substations,” a company spokesperson said. “Some repairs to that substation have already been made and others are in progress. Other outages are related to enhancing safety settings on equipment due to wildfire risk.”
For Jefferson County’s agricultural community, that explanation offered little comfort. Irrigation-dependent farming is the economic backbone of much of the county, and pump outages during peak summer can cost growers thousands of dollars per hour in lost productivity — not counting damage to crops that may go undetected until harvest.
Jefferson County commissioners have publicly criticized the frequency of outages and called on Pacific Power to find solutions that don’t shift the cost of statewide wildfire liability management onto rural communities already operating on thin margins.
A Broader Statewide Fight
The Madras situation reflects a tension playing out across Pacific Power’s Oregon service territory. The company — a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway’s PacifiCorp — has faced escalating scrutiny over its wildfire safety protocols since the catastrophic 2020 wildfires resulted in billions of dollars in liability suits. De-energization during high-risk weather has become a primary risk-mitigation tool, but critics argue it places a disproportionate burden on rural customers who depend on electricity for irrigation, refrigeration, medical equipment, and critical infrastructure.
Community members at the town hall called for longer advance notice, better communication during outages, and more investment in upgrading grid infrastructure so that cutting power doesn’t remain the default wildfire solution.
Pacific Power has programs for customers with electricity-dependent medical needs. Residents can learn more at pacificpower.net or call 1-877-508-5088. The utility has not announced a formal plan to reduce the frequency of de-energization events in the Madras area.