Pacific Power online map shows where power is out - News - MailTribune.com - Medford, OR

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Pacific Power online map shows where power is out A screenshot shows power outages across Oregon Tuesday morning. Pacific Power recently debuted this map tool to provide up-to-minute information on outages. Tuesday May 23, 2017 at 3:12 PM May 23, 2017 at 3:34 PM Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune @RyanPfeil Pacific Power has debuted a new online tool that shows Oregon customers where power outages are occurring, even if just one customer is blacked out. The company's outage map can be viewed at www.pacificpower.net/ed/po.html. Live since Friday, the map is updated every 15 minutes and charts even the smallest of power failures. "It'll go down to one," company spokesman Tom Gauntt said. Outages are indicated by red dots. The bigger the outage, the bigger the dot. But the dots don't label specific addresses during smaller outages, Gauntt said. The dots give approximate locations. "We shouldn't put too much weight on where that red dot shows up. It's going to make some sort of approximation of things, but it's not saying anything's happening, particularly, at that dot. You can only zero in so much," Gauntt said. "We don't want to get that granular." Before it went live, the public utility company's site only reported outages that affected 500 customers or more, and it updated when new information was available. The new maps are designed to be much quicker. "It's very ephemeral," Gauntt said. "If the outage is solved and restored, it disappears." In the coming months, the maps will be available on the company's app. Upcoming power bills will also contain information about the feature. — Reach reporter Ryan Pfeil at 541-776-4468 or [email protected]. Follow him at www.twitter.com/ryanpfeil.