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WA’s San Juan Islands lose power after mainland accident

By
Published  April 15, 2026 9:21am PDT
San Juan County
FOX 13 Seattle

The Brief

    • Nearly all customers in the San Juan Islands lost power Wednesday morning, affecting about 98% of the area.
    • Officials said a car that crashed into a power pole in Anacortes is what caused the outage. The outage includes a substation that feeds the San Juan Islands.
    • The estimated restoration time is 2:30 p.m., but that could be extended depending on the damage.

SAN JUAN COUNTY, Wash. - Nearly all customers on the San Juan Islands lost power Wednesday morning, and the cause remains under investigation.

98% of customers lose power on San Juan Islands

Nearly all customers in the San Juan Islands lost power Wednesday morning, affecting about 98% of the area. Officials said the outage was caused by a traffic incident on the mainland, and crews are assessing the damage. There is no estimated restoration time, and outages could last more than four hours.

(OPALCO)

According to Orcas Power & Light Cooperative (OPALCO), three active outages are impacting 15,071 customers. The utility’s outage map shows 15,403 total customers, meaning about 98% of the San Juan Islands are without power.

What caused the power outage on the San Juan Islands?

Timeline:

Crews say at around 8:20 a.m., a car crashed into a transmission power pole in Anacortes that caused a transmission line to fall into distribution lines, which knocked out power to the area. 

According to PSE, the outage includes the substation that feeds the San Juan Islands. Around 2,700 PSE customers in Anacortes.

Nearly all customers in the San Juan Islands lost power Wednesday morning, affecting about 98% of the area. Officials said the outage was caused by a traffic incident on the mainland, and crews are assessing the damage. There is no estimated restoration time, and outages could last more than four hours.

On the left is a screenshot of OPALCO's Outage Map, showing 98% of customers without power. On the right is a screenshot of PSE's Outage Map, showing a power outage near Anacortes. (OPALCO and PSE)

What they're saying:

"We have received confirmation from PSE and BPA that this outage has been linked to an active outage in the PSE territory," said OPALCO communications. "They have cited the cause of the outage as a traffic accident, but we do not have more concrete details at this time."

When will power be restored on the San Juan Islands?

According to PSE, the estimated time for restoration is 2:30 p.m. However, that time frame could be later. Crews will need to replace the entire pole and assess if there is any more damage.

Nearly all customers in the San Juan Islands lost power Wednesday morning, affecting about 98% of the area. Officials said the outage was caused by a traffic incident on the mainland, and crews are assessing the damage. There is no estimated restoration time, and outages could last more than four hours.

(OPALCO)

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The Source: Information in this story comes from Orcas Power & Light Cooperative (OPALCO) and Puget Sound Energy.

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