Washington County Sees Widespread Power Outage

Thousands of Washington County residents were left without electricity Thursday afternoon after a widespread power outage affected portions of the St. George area and surrounding communities.

According to multiple power companies, the outage began at about 5:15 Thursday afternoon and affected customers across multiple parts of Washington County. The exact cause was not immediately clear as utility crews worked to identify the problem and restore service. The outage came during the heat of a Southern Utah summer, making the loss of air conditioning an immediate concern for many homes and businesses.

Washington County is served by several different electric utilities, including St. George Energy Services, Washington City Power, Dixie Power and Rocky Mountain Power, depending on the community and neighborhood. That can sometimes make a widespread outage more complicated because restoration updates may come from different providers.

Power failures during triple-digit temperatures can quickly become more than an inconvenience. Residents without electricity are encouraged to limit opening refrigerators and freezers, keep phones charged when possible, and check on elderly neighbors or others who may be especially vulnerable to the heat. Anyone relying on electrically powered medical equipment should have a backup plan or seek assistance if needed.

Drivers should also use extra caution if traffic signals lose power. An intersection with a dark traffic light should generally be treated as a four way stop unless law enforcement is directing traffic.

The outage adds another disruption to an already eventful summer in Washington County, where residents have dealt with extreme heat, wildfire smoke, monsoon storms and flash flooding.

Utility crews were continuing restoration efforts Thursday, and customers were advised to monitor their local power provider for the latest information on outages and estimated restoration times.