Overnight power outage leaves thousands in the dark

Residents on Pahrump’s south and west ends were forced to ride out a five-hour power outage late Tuesday evening, Oct. 11.

The incident, according to Pahrump Valley Fire & Rescue Chief Scott Lewis, occurred just before midnight, and thousands of customers were affected.

“There was a significant power outage that affected the south and west end of Pahrump,” he said.

Approximately 9,000 meters were impacted by the outage. Restoration occurred just after 4 a.m. Wednesday, although many reported lingering internet outages well into Wednesday morning.

“There were no injuries but there were calls for service for people who were worried about their oxygen supplies,” Lewis said. “Crews were advised that the Department of Emergency Management, (DEM) was on a partial status and monitoring the situation to see if there were any other actions that were required at the county level in addition to the local level.”

Possible cause

Valley Electric Association Inc. posted on social media that equipment failure was to blame for the outage. A paddle on the jumper broke on the 138 kV line between the Thousandaire and Charleston Park substations, officials from the utility supplier said on Wednesday.

Line crews, power-system controllers, technicians, and techs worked through Tuesday to get all services restored, VEA officials said.

Though there’s never a good time for a loss of electricity, Lewis said it was fortunate that Tuesday’s outage occurred during the overnight hours when the temperatures are cooler and there is less demand for power.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes