1,700 homes, businesses lost power in Tri-Cities, including mass vaccination site

Power is back to about 1,700 Benton PUD customers in east Kennewick after they lost electricity for about an hour and a half Tuesday afternoon.

The outage started at 3:30 p.m. and was centered on 10th Avenue and Oak Street near the Benton County Fairgrounds, where COVID-19 vaccinations were being given.

Workers there were able to complete vaccinations that had been scheduled until 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Officials expect to open up the site on time Wednesday at 11 a.m. They still have appointments available.

Power returned to Benton PUD customers at 5 p.m. It remains unclear what triggered the outage.

This story was originally published April 20, 2021 at 4:00 PM.