Power-line problem triggered brief but broad outage across Southcentral Alaska

Power transmission lines successful Anchorage (Chugach Electric)

A power-line problem adjacent Wasilla Monday nighttime triggered a little but large-scale outage crossed overmuch of Southcentral Alaska, arsenic utilities automatically dropped customers to forestall a blackout.

Chugach Electric spokeswoman Julie Hasquet said Tuesday that nan outage, which began astatine astir 5:30 p.m. Monday, yet affected astir 45,000 of nan utility’s customers. The Matanuska Electric Association also saw astir 20,000 members suffer power arsenic acold northbound arsenic Denali State Park.

A responsibility on a transmission statement astir 10 miles northbound of Wasilla took 2 Chugach power-generation units offline, according to Hasquet, triggering a “load shedding” arena arsenic nan Railbelt utilities trim powerfulness to immoderate members. Both utilities reported astir powerfulness restored successful astir 90 minutes.

Hasquet said crews traveled on nan transmission statement Monday nighttime but couldn’t instantly find nan root of nan fault, which tin often beryllium interaction pinch character branches aliases wildlife. On Tuesday morning, an aerial study was pursuing up connected that search.

“Today, they’re retired really flying nan line, looking to find what it was that triggered nan responsibility successful nan transmission line,” Hasquet said.

The outage affected astir half of Chugach’s astir 92,000 members, arsenic good arsenic immoderate section postulation lights during Anchorage’s evening commute, but Hasquet said claims connected societal media of nan full metropolis losing powerfulness during nan outage were untrue.

“There were parts of nan Hillside that were unaffected; location were parts of Midtown that were unaffected,” Hasquet said. “It was decidedly not each of nan city.”

The Chugach customers who mislaid powerfulness Monday were successful areas designated successful beforehand to do truthful during a load-shedding event, Hasquet said, based connected a database intended to protect Anchorage’s captious infrastructure for illustration hospitals and subject bases. A akin load shedding event successful February, caused by a state leak astatine an MEA installation successful Eklutna, saw astir 12,000 Chugach members suffer power.

Hasquet called Monday’s outage a bully reminder for Alaskans to hole for powerfulness losses heading into nan fall, arsenic nan region’s September windstorm play approaches.

“Make a scheme pinch your family of what you would do successful a powerfulness outage,” she said. “There’s ne'er a amended clip to scheme for an emergency than earlier it happens.”