Manager’s Message – February 2026
PrintA December Storm to Remember
In December, flooding and severe windstorms in our region caused widespread power outages for our cooperative and neighboring electric utilities. Many across our region were without electricity for days as we were reminded of the importance of power in our daily lives.
For Northern Lights and its many members who experienced weather-related outages, we were also reminded of the power of cooperation.
With nearly 3,000 miles of lines and equipment stretching out across rural, rugged landscapes in Northern Idaho and Western Montana, supplying our homes and businesses with reliable electricity is a challenge. When Mother Nature sends severe weather, those challenges are magnified.
Already saturated terrain and heavy precipitation caused flooding on December 11 in the Troy, Montana area and threatened Northern Lights’ Lake Creek Dam. Keeler Creek Bridge washed out along with a nearby double-circuit transmission line. We waited several days for water levels to recede and then replaced this critical power pole.
Then on Dec. 15, we experienced the first of what would be several days of high winds in our area. On December 17, gusts exceeded 55 mph. The extremely wet soil and high winds toppled trees, downed power poles, and caused damage to infrastructure. Many of our lineworkers had just begun recovering from a 24-hour shift restoring power when approximately 15,000 of our 24,000 accounts were impacted by the second storm. We needed help to ensure the lights were on before Christmas, so we called for mutual aid and contract crews.
From then until December 22, Northern Lights’ line crews and employees—assisted by utility and contracted crews—worked together on restoration efforts. Day after day, crews began in the early morning hours and worked into the night, tirelessly through the weekend, until power was restored to all our members.
That’s the power of cooperation. The dam is holding strong, our system is stabilized, and power is restored to all our members, something we couldn’t have done as quickly on our own. We appreciate the collective support and resilience of our members, lineworkers, employees, cooperative partners, and contracted crews.
Annie Terracciano
General Manager
