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Thousands lose power after truck hits utility pole

Crews repair a utility pole and power line after a power outage on Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2025 near Soldotna, Alaska.
Ashlyn O'Hara
/
KDLL
Crews repair a utility pole and power line after a power outage on Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2025 near Soldotna, Alaska.

Almost three thousand people in the Soldotna area lost power late Tuesday afternoon. That’s after a vehicle crashed into and knocked over a utility pole along the Sterling Highway near Mackey Lake Rd.

The outage impacted multiple traffic lights in Soldotna and was restored within about an hour. At around 3:30 p.m., Homer Electric Association said via social media that crews were responding to the scene.

HEA Spokesperson Keriann Baker said the cooperative’s grid automatically de-energizes when that type of disruption happens. That’s to minimize the safety risk to other people in the area while crews figure out what caused the disruption.

As of 4:30 p.m., HEA’s outage map showed only one customer without power, which Baker said is likely the impacted pole. Crews were still repairing the utility pole around 7:45 p.m.

Prior to joining KDLL's news team in May 2024, O'Hara spent nearly four years reporting for the Peninsula Clarion in Kenai. Before that, she was a freelance reporter for The New York Times, a statehouse reporter for the Columbia Missourian and a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. You can reach her at aohara@kdll.org