Bend, OR – Southeast Bend experienced two unrelated power outages on Friday morning, affecting thousands of customers and causing temporary disruptions to local services.

The first outage, which impacted more than 7,500 customers of Central Electric Cooperative, occurred around 5:00 a.m. The cooperative worked to restore power, and by late morning, most customers had their electricity restored.

While the outage did affect St. Charles Hospital, the hospital was prepared, relying on backup generators to ensure that its systems remained operational during the interruption. Several Bend-La Pine schools were also affected by the outage, but they continued with their regular schedules, remaining open as usual.

Just hours later, another outage struck the region. Around 10:00 a.m., approximately 1,300 Pacific Power customers between the Deschutes River and Pilot Butte lost power. A spokesperson for Pacific Power confirmed that the outage was caused by a crane striking power lines. Fortunately, the issue was resolved quickly, with power restored within 40 minutes.

While the spokesperson was unable to identify the owner of the crane involved, they confirmed that the crane did not belong to the utility.

The outages, though brief, served as a reminder of the vulnerability of power infrastructure, especially when external factors such as accidents are involved. Local authorities and utility providers did not report any major injuries or long-term disruptions from the incidents.