A transmission system failure has left more than 40,000 people without electricity across Washington County, Utah, as two major utilities work to restore power to the St. George area. According to Rocky Mountain Power’s outage map, over 13,000 of their customers in St. George, Ivins, and Washington County are experiencing outages, while Dixie Power reported approximately 27,000 of their customers without service.
Both utilities confirmed that the widespread power outage stems from an issue with the transmission system, the network of high-voltage lines that carries electricity across regions. Crews are actively investigating the cause and working to restore service.
Rocky Mountain Power initially estimated that power would be restored before the early morning hours of August 28, though officials cautioned that the timeline is subject to change as crews assess the damage. When outages of this scale occur, utilities typically set initial restoration estimates at about three hours from the time of the first report, then update those times as they gather more information about the extent of the damage, according to utility industry standards.
The St. George Police Department urged the public to avoid making unnecessary calls to 911, asking residents to reserve emergency services for actual emergencies. The department also reminded drivers that traffic signals that are not working should be treated as four-way stops for safety.
Transmission line failures, while less common than outages caused by downed poles or equipment failures, can affect tens of thousands of customers at once because these lines carry power across broad geographic areas. When transmission systems fail, the impact cascades quickly across the entire region they serve. A similar transmission-related outage in Colorado’s Vail Valley affected tens of thousands of customers, and a flag that became tangled in a Connecticut transmission structure in June 2026 left about 40,000 customers without power in Greenwich.
The American Red Cross recommends that people affected by power outages monitor local alerts for updates, keep food cold, and unplug appliances to prevent power overloads when electricity is restored. Residents with medical devices or those who rely on heating or cooling should consider whether staying home is safe during an extended outage.
Sources
- ABC4 Utah — reported the transmission system failure affecting 40,000+ people, with 13,000+ Rocky Mountain Power customers and 27,000 Dixie Power customers without power, estimated restoration before early morning August 28
- Rocky Mountain Power — provided outage map data and restoration process information showing initial estimates set at three hours from first report
- St. George Police Department — issued guidance on 911 calls and traffic signal safety during outage
