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Power is being restored after outages affected thousands of Utahns

Rows of power lines at dawn.
Andrey Metelev
/
Unsplash

Electricity is being restored after multiple outages left thousands of Rocky Mountain Power customers across the Wasatch Front without power Monday morning. More than 22,000 customers were affected, with the number dropping to about 440 by 10:15 a.m.

Rocky Mountain Power said one of the outages was caused by Mylar balloons blowing into power lines. Mylar balloons have a metallic coating that can melt onto power lines, causing more issues than other latex balloons.

The outages occurred amid heavy winds of up to 65 mph near Great Salt Lake and 37 mph in Salt Lake City.

Rocky Mountain Power said residents can be prepared for outages by having a flashlight, battery-powered radio and a power bank to charge phones. They also warn to be alert for downed wires that could be active and dangerous.

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Duck is a general reporter and weekend announcer at UPR, and is studying broadcast journalism and disability studies at USU. They grew up in northern Colorado before moving to Logan in 2018, so the Rocky Mountain life is all they know. Free time is generally spent with their dog, Monty, listening to podcasts, reading or wishing they could be outside more.