PRESS RELEASE: POWER OUTAGES DECEMBER 25 AND 26, 2016

POWER OUTAGES DUE TO HIGH MOISTURE IN A SWITCH

January 2, 2017 Mesquite, NV. A power outage affecting 1,260 customers occurred on December 25, 2016 around 9:25 a.m affecting customers on Riverside Road and surrounding subdivisions in Mesquite, NV. Crews were dispatched immediately in order to locate the problem and to restore power in a safely and timely manner. Power was restored at 9:47 a.m. and at the time it was considered to be an isolated event.

A second power outage was reported by customers in the same area on December 26, 2016 at 9:25 a.m. Crews identified a switch affected by high moisture as the cause of the power outages and scheduled it to be replaced. Power was successfully restored to all affected customers at 9:48 a.m.

“We are thankful to our professional staff and crew on call,” Keith Buchhalter OPD spokesperson said. “The response was almost immediate. Even though it was Christmas Day, the priority was to restore the power as soon as possible to the customers affected.”

Crews worked to permanently fix the problem by replacing the switch during a scheduled power outage at 3:30 a.m. on December 27, 2016. Two hours earlier that morning, power was being restored to customers in a separate outage.

A loose guy-wire anchor caused a power pole to break at around 11:30 p.m. on December 26, 2016 causing a power outage that affected 10 customers on Canal Street. “When that guy-wire went out, it destabilized the power pole and the tension contributed to the break,” Buchhalter said.

Crews replaced the broken pole and power was restored to the majority of customers at 2:00 a.m on December 27, 2016.