A Thursday morning power outage just before 7:30 a.m. threw a swath of Southeast Portland off the grid, cutting electricity to thousands of homes and several medical clinics right as the morning rush was kicking in. The outage, focused near Southeast Stark Street and Southeast 45th Avenue, forced parts of the Providence Portland campus onto emergency power while crews hustled to repair damaged distribution equipment and get the lights back on.
According to OregonLive, Portland General Electric initially reported that more than 7,000 customers lost power and said “animal contact” was the likely culprit. By about 9 a.m., outage maps showed roughly 2,700 customers still in the dark, with the utility expecting power for most remaining customers to be restored by 11 a.m.
Providence campus location and impact
The Providence Portland Medical Center campus at 4805 NE Glisan Street hosts a cluster of outpatient clinics and specialty services, according to Providence. With the hospital complex inside the outage zone, the morning disruption hit not just nearby residents but also patients trying to make appointments and staff juggling essential operations.
Clinics ran on generators and canceled some appointments
As reported by OregonLive, at least one clinic inside the Providence complex canceled patients for the morning, while portions of the medical center switched to backup generators until around 9 a.m. Crews ultimately traced the issue to equipment that had come into contact with an animal, and technicians stayed on the scene through the morning to carry out repairs.
What neighbors should know
Neighbors across the affected streets reported flickering lights and some brief traffic hiccups at intersections where signals went down. Residents are encouraged to check Portland General Electric’s outage map or sign up for alerts to get the most current restoration estimates. Anyone relying on electrically powered medical equipment is advised to contact their medical provider or PGE for support and guidance.
By late morning, many customers had their power restored and traffic flows largely returned to normal. Utility officials reminded the public to steer clear of any downed lines and to report outages or hazards through official PGE channels rather than trying any DIY heroics.
