Avista Continues Project to Underground Nearly 11 Miles of Power Lines near Calder, Idaho

Sept. 12, 2014
Lines are being moved underground because of difficulty in reaching area for maintenance and repairs.

Avista is installing over 4 mi of underground power cable along the Potlatch Road beginning at Calder, Idaho, and ending near Big Creek, Idaho. Work is expected to be completed by Oct. 30.

During that time, areas of Potlatch Road may be closed for up to 8 hours. Signs alerting travelers to a delay will be posted at the entrance to Potlatch Road at Calder and at the Marble Creek Bridge.

After the underground cable is installed, Avista crews will transfer customers in the area from Calder to Big Creek to the new underground power lines and remove the old overhead lines. Customers in that area may experience short outages during the transfer to the new underground power lines.

This is the second year of a 3-year project to replace nearly 11 mi of aging overhead infrastructure in rugged terrain that is difficult to access, repair and maintain. The new underground infrastructure will increase reliability for customers from Calder, Idaho to Avery, Idaho.

“We apologize to customers and those who regularly use Potlatch Road for any inconvenience they may experience while this work is underway,” said Larry Hager, Avista’s district manager for St. Maries.

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