PORT ANGELES — The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and Clallam County PUD are working together to improve power reliability on the West End, focusing on the 24-mile transmission line between Port Angeles and Sappho.

BPA officials met with Clallam PUD and members of the public on Wednesday to discuss the line, which serves about 6,500 customers and has experienced 15 tree-related outages lasting six hours or more since 2016 . Officials say most were caused by trees falling from outside BPA’s right-of-way. Many of those trees were alive but compromised by root rot and brought down during storms.

In response, crews have removed over 1,100 danger trees, trimmed hundreds more, replaced key structures, and applied herbicides to control regrowth. BPA has also added fire-resistant wraps to new poles.

Despite these improvements, the area’s remote terrain and federally managed land continue to pose challenges, making it difficult to expand the corridor or build a second line. BPA Chief Operating Officer Joel Cook said the agency is now reviewing a 10-mile high-risk section for potential upgrades, including taller poles and expanded tree-clearing zones. However, he noted that any significant changes would require environmental review and coordination with federal and state agencies.

To better serve areas with frequent outages, Cook said BPA has launched its new Customer Reliability Improvement and Service Program. Clallam PUD continues to support the initiative by patrolling lines and helping identify outage causes.