Pacific Power is holding a community town hall in Madras tonight, Wednesday, June 25, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Jefferson County Public Health building, 500 A St. The meeting comes after a string of outages — at least five since the beginning of June — that have drawn sharp criticism from local farmers, businesses, and elected officials.

What Changed — and Why

In a June 15 press release, Pacific Power announced a series of changes to its electrical infrastructure designed to reduce the risk of wildfires. The upgrades include enhanced safety settings and new protective equipment engineered to automatically shut down lines when they come into contact with debris, wildlife, or high winds.

The utility also said it may preemptively de-energize — cut power to — lines during dangerous fire weather conditions.

The downside, as Pacific Power itself acknowledged, is that these changes "may lead to longer or more frequent outages for customers in some high-risk areas."

A Costly Disruption for Farming Country

Jefferson County sits in the heart of high-desert agricultural land, and power is not optional for irrigation pumps, processing equipment, and cold storage. Jefferson County leaders and local farmers have pushed back hard, arguing that repeated unplanned outages create serious economic harm — and that the company has not done enough to communicate with affected communities before pulling the plug.

The Madras area has already been dealing with drought conditions and elevated fire danger this season. Jefferson County was among the top 50 counties in the nation hit hardest by wildfires last year, and with limited snowpack this winter, conditions in 2026 are even drier.

Tonight’s Meeting

Pacific Power says the goal of the town hall is to inform the public about what the company has done — and plans to do — to "improve safety and reliability during the wildfire season."

Residents, farmers, and business owners who have been impacted by the outages are encouraged to attend and ask questions directly.

  • When: Tonight, June 25, 6:00–7:30 p.m.
  • Where: Jefferson County Public Health building, 500 A St., Madras
  • Who should attend: Anyone affected by recent outages or concerned about future disruptions

Pacific Power serves much of Jefferson County, including Madras and the surrounding rural areas. The company’s wildfire risk reduction programs are driven in part by state regulatory requirements following catastrophic fires elsewhere in the West that were linked to utility equipment.

Context: Fire Risk Is Real

Jefferson County Fire & EMS has confirmed that open burning has been banned since early May. A burn ban, drought declaration, and near-record-low snowpack have combined to create what fire officials describe as extreme fire danger across the local area heading into the summer months.

The Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center is currently tracking elevated fire conditions across the region.

For current outage information, residents can visit pacificpower.net. For wildfire conditions, the Central Oregon Fire Info site at centraloregonfire.org is updated regularly.