Power outage Monday affects 3,000 residents

An early morning power outage affected a large portion of the valley Monday morning as moderate to light rain fell on town.

A fire on a wooden power pole in the north part of town started a chain reaction that led the outage that affected over 3,000 Pahrump residents.

There were around 3,360 homes and businesses without power during the event, where all power was restored in just over an hour. The power outage began at 6:05 a.m., and all members’ power was restored by 7:18 a.m.

“The pole fire was the original source of the outage and was exacerbated by a relay failing to operate properly in the substation,” said James Andresen, manager of operations for Valley Electric Association, Inc.

The pole responsible for the outage is located west of Leslie Street and north of West Betty Avenue.

Andresen said it’s not uncommon for a buildup of dust on a pole, followed by a light drizzle, to create conditions that can trigger a fire.

“A light rain is more troublesome than a heavy one,” Andresen said. “It’s the combination of the dust and rain. We’re better off getting a downpour than a light rain.”

VEA’s subsidiary, Valley Communication Association’s broadband service, was not affected by the outage.

“The system is designed to withstand extended periods without power, and it did,” said Executive Vice President of Broadband Services and Operations John Spracklen. “Those who lost power likely lost broadband,” said Spracklen, “but the outage did not affect the broadband system.”

Pole fires are not an uncommon occurrence, but during most of the incidents widespread outages were not experienced. A protective relay in the substation failed to operate properly, resulting in the widespread outage. Repairs have been made to both the pole and the relay in the substation.

Contact reporter Mick Akers at makers@pvtimes.com. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.