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January 30, 2012
Weekend downtown power failure fully resolved
A power failure that darkened parts of downtown this weekend was fully resolved this morning, an official with Austin Energy said today.
Power to Capitol Center, a 15-story office tower at 919 Congress Ave., was restored about 3 a.m. today, spokesman Ed Clark said. Power had been restored to most customers, mostly businesses, government buildings, churches, bars and clubs, by Sunday morning, Clark said.
An unusual, back-to-back failure of transformers late Saturday led to overloaded power lines and a nearly 12-hour electricity outage in the area bounded by Congress Avenue, Red River Street, Sixth Street and 12th Street, officials have said.
An investigation will follow into the cause of the failure.
Full story: Parts of downtown go dark for nearly 12 hours
January 29, 2012
Power restored to 99 percent of downtown outage area, caused by unusual equipment failure
Updated at 10:25 a.m.: An unusual, back-to-back failure of transformers quickly led to power lines overloading, smoldering and, in one instance, catching on fire to create a nearly 12-hour electricity outage overnight in downtown Austin.
By 8:15 a.m. Sunday, Austin Energy had restored power to all but one of the customers, mostly businesses, government buildings, churches, bars and clubs, in the area bounded by Congress Avenue, Red River Street, Sixth Street and 12st Street.
“The most unusual thing that occurred was a circuit tripped and then the backup circuit tripped,” Austin Energy spokesman Ed Clark said. “That sent a power surge that was instantaneous and large.”
Power circuits, which distribute power to an area, each have another circuit that acts as a backup, so if the first circuit fails, it can temporarily shift its load to another circuit while the first one is fixed, Clark said.
Saturday night, a transformer near 10th Street and Congress Avenue, feeding power to a circuit failed. However, the backup circuit and its transformer then also failed, Clark said. Power from both circuits surged through a third circuit, Clark said. Underground power lines were smoldering and in one case caught on fire near Ninth Street and Congress Avenue because of the surge, Clark said.
The surge eventually triggered fuses to trip offline as they are built to do when too much power is going through the lines, Clark said.
The vast majority of customers that lost power are businesses, Clark said. On Sixth Street, bar goers at one point poured out of the locations without power, he said.
Crews have replaced one of the damaged transformers and expect to replace the second later in the day, Clark said. The customer still without power is expected to have it back by noon.
It’s not clear what caused the transformers to fail, but it is believed to be an internal failure of the equipment not caused by an unusual level of use, Clark said.
Updated at 8:55 a.m.: Power has been restored to 99 percent of the area of downtown that was without power from about 8:30 p.m. Saturday until about 8:15 a.m. Sunday, Austin Energy said.
One customer in the outage area, surrounded by Red River Street, Congress Avenue, 5th Street and 12th street, remains without power.
From Austin Energy:
Update - 5:00 a.m.
A power outage at this hour that began at about 8:30 p.m. last night and grew larger about 11:30 p.m. — affects an area of the downtown generally between Congress and Red River and 12th to 5th street.
The outage was due to a cascading problem that resulted in fire or other damage to two transformers and to sections of power lines divided between four locations.
Downtown Austin is powered through an underground network that includes 600 transformers located within some 300 vaults with miles of power lines accessible through the vaults and manholes.
Austin Energy crews have been working non-stop throughout the night and currently project power should be restored to the affected area by early to mid-morning today.
A thorough investigation will be conducted to fully determine the cause of the outage
January 10, 2012
Power restored in Central, West Austin
Power has been restored to an estimated 4,000 Austin Energy customers who saw outages Tuesday in Central and West Austin due to a defective piece of equipment that connects overhead lines to underground lines, a company spokesman said.
The power went out about 1:45 p.m. and affected homes in the North Lamar Boulevard and MoPac (Loop 1) Boulevard area, along 33rd through 39th streets, spokesman Ed Clark said.
Power was rerouted for 3,500 customers by 2:30 p.m. and back on for the remaining customers by about 3:50 p.m., he said.
September 9, 2011
Power outage in North Austin affects 1,000
Update:
North Austin customers who lost power this morning have seen their electricity restored, Austin Energy officials said.
An equipment failure triggered the outage, which was restored within the hour of the outage just before 9 a.m.
Earlier:
Austin Energy is investigating a power outage in North Austin that has left 1,000 without electricity this morning, an official said.
The utility is looking into the outage near the U.S. 183 and Braker Lane area, the official said.
There was no immediate information regarding the cause or time when power would be restored, but the utility hopes customers will have power restored soon, the official said.
August 30, 2011
Power restored to Clarksville homes
9: 30 p.m. UPDATE: All power has been restored to the more than 300 Clarksville homes that lost power tonight.
A small power outage is affecting about 300 homes in the Clarksville neighborhood tonight.
The outage occurred about 6:30 p.m. and officials do not know the cause.
To check for updates on power, check the Austin Energy Storm Center’s website.
August 25, 2011
Officials say they doubt heat played role in Austin power outage Wednesday
A failed gear on a transformer caused the Wednesday night power outage, officials said.
About 4,000 homes in Central and West Austin were in the dark for about two and a half hours during the early evening after three circuits went down, Austin Energy spokeswoman Leslie Sopko said today.
Earlier Wednesday, state officials also reported dangerously high electricity use at least in part due to the heat.
However, “there’s no way to know whether heat was a factor” in Wednesday’s outages in Austin, Sopko said.
Equipment is built with the heat in mind, she said, and officials strongly doubt that ambient temperatures played a role in the outages.
“It’s just one of those things that just happens. Sometimes equipment stops working,” she said. “It’s safe to say we do routine preventative maintenance.”
August 24, 2011
Power restored to 4,000 Austin residents
Updated at 8: 52 p.m. Austin Energy officials said power was restored to more than 4,000 customers around 8:37 p.m. tonight.
Updated at 7:23 p.m.: A separate outage left 600 homes off Slaughter Lane in South Austin without power from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., officials said.
Crews are still attempting to restore power to the 4,000 customers in the downtown area, Austin Energy spokesman Ed Clark said.
Check a list and map of outages at https://my.austinenergy.com/outages. Report an outage there or call 322-9100.
Earlier: About 4,000 Austin Energy customers are without power in an area bounded by Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Red River Street, Barton Springs Road and Lamar Boulevard.
Traffic lights have been out sporadically in downtown and on Barton Springs Road, police said. City crews are responding to them, officials said.
The outages were reported about 6 p.m. as three circuits were blown in a substation, spokesman Ed Clark said.
The outages are not part of any rotating blackouts, Clark said.
Clark was unsure about the cause as crews are currently responding to the outage.
Outages can be reported to 322-9100.
Power restored in San Marcos following overnight outages
From the City of San Marcos:
Two San Marcos electric substations tripped off line simultaneously Tuesday about 10:30 p.m. leaving sections of San Marcos without electricity for about an hour and a half.
San Marcos electric utility crews worked past midnight to restore power. A lightning arrester malfunctioned at the San Marcos substation on River Road east of I-35 and nearly simultaneously tripped the Hilltop substation located at the end of Ramsey Street near North LBJ Drive.
Areas affected were neighborhoods east of I-35, including the Wallace Addition, River Road, Highway 80, and North I-35, west of I-35 at Holland Hills, Spring Lake Hills, Alamo, Aquarena Springs, parts of Post Road, Thorpe Lane, the City Hall area, and Rio Vista Terrace.
All power was restored by 12:15 a.m., said Kyle Dicke, Assistant Director of Public Services-Electric Utility.
Officials are investigating the cause of the outages and will monitor the system closely Wednesday.
Due to expected continued high temperatures Wednesday, officials encourage residents to conserve electric use, especially during the peak hours of 3 - 7 p.m.
August 16, 2011
Power restored for East Austin customers
Update 8 p.m. Officials with Austin Energy say that power in East Austin has been restored to those who lost it.
Around 3,000 customers lost power tonight after an outdated power line failed, said Austin Energy spokesman Carlos Cordova. The line has been replaced.
Earlier: More than 3,000 Austin Energy customers are without power tonight near Airport Boulevard and Springdale Road in East Austin.
Officials with Austin Energy said crews are on the scene trying to determine what caused the outage, which also effects customers on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, 12th Street and Chicon Street.
To check if you are affected, check the Austin Energy outage map.
August 3, 2011
Power restored for Williamson County residents
UPDATE: Officials with PEC say power has been fully restored as of 11 p.m.
EARLIER: Around 900 Pedernales Electric Cooperative customers are without power tonight because of a piece of equipment that was damaged around 7 p.m., according to PEC officials.
They still do not know what happened to the damaged equipment, but said they are already restoring power.
Power must be restored in phases to prevent an overload and officials ask that customers raise their thermostats and unplug major appliances.
July 5, 2011
Power restored to more than 2,500 Southwest Austin homes
UPDATE: Power was restored to the homes about 9:15 p.m. Officials said the cause was a squirrel that had gotten into a piece of equipment.
Austin Energy officials said around 2,614 homes lost power in Southwest Austin about 8 p.m.
The cause for the outage and the estimated restoration time have not been determined. Officials said the areas without power are roughly near Texas 71, Joe Tanner Lane, Road Runner Lane, MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) and West William Cannon Drive.
Check for Austin Energy outages on their web site.
June 28, 2011
Power restored to remaining Cedar Park homes
Update:
Remaining Cedar Park homes that lost electricity last night saw their power restored shortly before 2:30 am., a spokeswoman said Tuesday for Johnson City-based Pedernales Electric Cooperative.
Following the discovery of damaged underground cables, workers also uncovered a dysfunctional transformer shortly after 2 a.m., said spokeswoman Anne Harvey.
That transformer was replaced soon after and the remaining homes without power saw their electricity return around 2:20 a.m.
Harvey doesn’t expect homeowners to encounter more difficulties related to last night’s outages.
Update:
About half the Buttercup-area homes have power back, but crews are still working to restore power to the other half, a Pedernales Electric Cooperative spokeswoman said.
Crews found damaged cables underground and need to excavate to repair them, spokeswoman Anne Harvey said. Power usage did not hit a peak.
“The guys are out there and working around the clock to restore power,” Harvey said, adding there are about 90 customers without power as of 11:30 p.m.
Update:
As of 10:20 p.m., power has not been restored to the Buttercup-area homes.
Earlier:
About 185 homes in the Buttercup area of Cedar Park have been without power since 7:30 p.m., Pedernales Electric Cooperative officials said.
Crews were able to restore power to 93 homes in the Balcones area about 8:40 p.m., that were without power since 7:30 p.m.
Cooperative officials said they expect the utility to restore power to the homes in the Buttercup area by 9:30 p.m.
Spokeswoman Anne Harvey said the cause of both sets of outages was overloaded equipment.
Harvey said residents should try to conserve as much electricity as possible to avoid future outages.
Note: This entry has been corrected to reflect that 90 meters, or customers, were without power as of 11:30 p.m., rather than the number of workers involved in restoring power
March 29, 2011
Power restored in South Austin
2:45 p.m. update: Austin Energy officials said that power has been restored to all customers from the S. Austin utility pole fires. Anyone still experiencing an outage is asked to call 322-910.
Earlier:
Smoldering fires at two power utility poles triggered outages for 6,000 South Austin customers this afternoon, including outages at traffic signals along South Congress Avenue, an Austin Energy official said.
A build up of dust and dirt on electrical equipment on the poles, combined with misty conditions, helped trigger the smoldering fires at the utility poles, said spokesman Ed Clark.
The smoldering fires triggered outages for 6,000 customers for more than an hour starting at 12:15 p.m., Clark said. Austin Energy is re-routing power to the impacted customers, and hopes to have the outage completely resolved in the next hour, Clark said.
The outage impacted customers near the William Cannon Drive and Stassney Lane area, as well as the Interstate 35 and South First Street area, Clark said. Several signals along South Congress Avenue were also reported to be out.
By 1:45, about 4,000 customers were restored, Clark said. The remaining customers were expected to have power back within the hour, he said.
January 17, 2011
Equipment failure triggered Del Valle power outage
An equipment failure triggered a power outage in Del Valle for about an hour late Sunday, an Austin Energy spokesman said Monday.
Cordova said the failure of a voltage regulator triggered the outage for 2,100 customers near Texas 71 and Fallwell Lane at around 10:30 p.m., said spokesman Carlos Cordova.
All of the customers were restored by 11:30 p.m., Cordova said.
December 22, 2010
Manor power outage caused by pole fire
A power outage in Manor that left hundreds without electricity, including the area fire department and some traffic signals, was caused by a power pole fire, a spokesman for Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative said.
The power outage left 1,302 consumers without power shortly before 8 a.m., said spokesman Will Holford. Most of those outages were resolved shortly before 8:30 a.m., but some customers remain without power, including businesses along U.S. 290 in Manor, Holford said.
Those customers should expect to have power back soon, he said.
December 8, 2010
UT power outage caused by small animal, official says
A small animal got caught in the switch gear at a power plant on the University of Texas this morning, causing a short circuit that knocked out electricity to 30 to 40 campus buildings, including the one that houses the KUT radio station and KLRU television station, a university spokeswoman said.
A outage began at about 7:30 a.m., and one person had to be rescued from an elevator at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center, spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon said.
September 12, 2010
Crews repairing Round Rock electrical substation after fire
Update 8: 30 a.m. Monday:Oncor will be making repairs at a Round Rock substation today after an electrical failure there led to a fire and triggered an outage for thousands of nearby customers last night, a spokesman said Monday.
“There was an electrical fault on one of the transformers,” said Eddie Ferguson, a spokesman for Oncor.
At about 7 last night, a transformer at the utility’s substation on County Road 172 near the La Frontera development in Round Rock shorted out, which overheated wires and oil sitting on top the transformer, leading to the fire, Ferguson said.
“We are not quite sure what caused it,” Ferguson said.
The fire was put out within minutes, but 19,000 homes were without power until 8:30 p.m., Ferguson said. The utility switched its load usage to other transformers at the substation, and plans to make repairs to the damaged transformer, he said.
“We will do routine maintenance and get it back in operation, but it won’t affect customers,” Ferguson said. “As far as any (disruptions for) customers, that was taken care of last night. There should not be any further disruption of power.”
Earlier: A fire at a power substation in the North Austin area caused 14,000 homes to be without power earlier this evening.
Williamson County spokeswoman Connie Watson said the fire occurred around 7:10 p.m. at County Road 172 and FM 1325. No one was injured in the fire, she said, but several thousand homes were without power. Oncor Energy is working to restore power, she said.
By 9:30 p.m., power had been restored to most of the homes in Williamson County, including Brushy Creek and Round Rock.
August 17, 2009
Gas leak causes evacuations in Wells Branch
6:25 p.m.: Sheriff’s office spokesman Roger Wade reports that the gas line leak has been fixed and the roads in the area near Wells Branch Parkway have been reopened. Those people who had been evacuated are being allowed back home, he said.
5:25 p.m.: A contractor mistakenly drilled into a 4-inch gas line in the right-of-way off Wells Branch Parkway at about 12:30 p.m., causing a gas leak that led officials to close the road in northern Travis County, said Randy Hartford, a spokesman for Atmos Energy, which owns the gas line.
Hartford said that gas has been leaking from the pipe, which is not immediately adjacent to any homes or businesses, since the pipe was drilled at about 12:30 p.m.
He said the contractor was not working for Atmos.
The flow of gas is expected to be stopped within an hour, Hartford said.
Fire officials could not be reached for an update on evacuations in the area.
EARLIER: Fire officials are on the scene of a gas leak and have ordered some evacuations in the Wells Branch area of northern Travis County, according to Linda Gonzales, a secretary with Travis County Emergency Services District No. 2.
The leak happened earlier today when a gas pipe busted at 2400 Wells Branch Parkway, Gonzales said. A fire truck was on the scene, and nobody was immediately available to speak to the media, she said.
The leak is on Wells Branch Parkway between Interstate 35 and MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1).
Roger Wade, a spokesman for the Travis County sheriff’s office, said no street closures have been ordered.
Check back for more details.
August 12, 2009
Power back on for 2,100 Austin Energy customers
The failure of a buried electrical cable in Southwest Austin caused a power outage to 2,100 Austin Energy customers and several traffic signals in the area for about an hour, Austin Energy Spokesman Carlos Cordova said.
Austin police officers were directing traffic in the area, which was roughly between MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1), Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360) and Spyglass Drive.
The failure happened at about 2 p.m. near the intersection of Tuscan Terrace and Via Fortuna, causing some smoke but no fire, Cordova said. Power was restored just after 3 p.m.
Traffic signals in the area are now working in the area, police said.
July 18, 2009
Outage leaves 17,000 without power
UPDATE 7:20p.m.
Power has been restored (7:05 p.m.) for all customers affected by that substation outage in Northeast Austin.
Any customer still without power should report their outage by calling 322-9100.
Original message from Austin Energy:
A substation that serves an area of Northwest Austin tripped off line at about 4:06 this afternoon. The outage affected about 17,000 customers. The boundaries of the outage: North- Anderson Mill Road, West- McNeil Road, South- Mopac, East - 183. The substation has 12 circuits or major power lines feeding neighborhoods throughout the affected area.
The outage was caused by failure of a small piece of equipment which caught on fire. The Austin Fire Department was called per protocols. Fire damage was not serious.
Power began to be restored to neighborhoods about 5:15 p.m. with power restored to 60% of the affected customers by 5:45. Austin Energy expects to have power restored to all affected customers by about 7:30 p.m.
When outages occur - customers without power should call 322-9100. In situations when the system receives a large number of calls, which occurred this afternoon, the system switches to an automated mode. This allows thousands of calls to be handled simultaneously. On cue, a customer should input either the telephone number attached to the customer electric account of their Powerlink Number, which is located in the right hand corner of their City of Austin utility bill.
February 25, 2009
Electrical problem at Bowie HS prompts evacuation
Bowie High School in southwest Austin was briefly evacuated this afternoon after an electrical short was discovered at the school, Austin school district officials said. A district maintenance crew is currently working on the problem at the school and students have returned to their regularly scheduled activities, officials said.
January 12, 2009
Police search for missing 4-year-old
Austin police are searching for a 4-year-old girl who is missing after being dropped off at the wrong bus stop, a police spokesman said.
The girl was last seen around 3 p.m. after being dropped off at 1400 East Rundberg Lane, police said. She lives in the area, and Austin police are searching the area of Dobie Middle School for the girl, he said.
More details to come.
UPDATE: The missing girl has been returned safely, said AISD spokeswoman Roxanne Evans. Another parent found her and returned her to school, where her mother picked her up, Evans said.
September 25, 2008
Power restored at ABIA
Power went out at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport late Wednesday, causing backup generators to kick in and fire alarms to activate.
Austin Energy spokesman Ed Clark said power went out just after 10 p.m. in the tower, terminal and the parking area when two circuits failed. The areas without power were lighted by the backup generators, he said.
He said several planes that had landed experienced delays in off-loading their passengers due to the outage but departing flights had left the airport prior to the outage.
Clark said power was restored to most of the airport by midnight. Crews replaced the failed equipment overnight, he said. Thursday morning Clark said the failure may have been caused by an animal.
Airport spokesman Jim Halbrook said the terminal was evacuated during the outage and people were not allowed in while workers tried to fix the problem.
Halbrook said the airfield remained lighted. The only remaining flights at the airport were arrivals, which were allowed to land but people could not immediately leave the aircraft, Halbrook said.
Passengers were let off the four aircrafts on the runway a short time after power started coming back to the terminal about 11:15 p.m., officials said.
Austin Fire Department Lt. David Belknap said firefighters responded to the alarms, but no fire was detected.
August 3, 2008
MLK water main break repaired
From Austin Water Utility:
The Austin Water Utility has completed the repairs to the 20 inch water main that broke Friday evening. Water service has been restored and all customers that were affected have water. Repairs to the roadway on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard will be made and the road should be open early Sunday morning.
June 22, 2008
Power restored to all Austin Energy customers
Austin Energy Storm Update: 5 a.m.
Power has been restored to all customers affected by two brief but powerful storms that occurred yesterday afternoon at about 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. respectively.
Power restoration efforts overnight affecting some 50 remaining customers were made more difficult due to the location of the electric system at the back of lots rather than on the street. The last repair, just completed, required the installation of a transformer (grey box at the top of a power pole) in a back-of-lot situation. This required that crews carry in all equipment and hoist the transformer into place, without the assistance of bucket trucks.
The 2:00 p.m. storm, which hit south Austin, caused the most damage, with lines down in as many as a dozen locations and several power poles broken. That storm initially resulted in outages to as many as 7,000 customers, though power was restored in increments to about 80% of affected customers by 5:00 p.m.
Power was restored to another 1,000 customer customers by 10:00 p.m. and to all but about 40 customers by midnight. Virtually all remaining outages addressed overnight were in situations where the electric system was located at the back of lots rather than the street. A large percentage of all outages were caused by tree limbs on power lines.
May 29, 2008
Much of Round Rock without power
Much of Round Rock lost electric power tonight, police officer Eric Poteet said.
The power was being restored quickly, and by 10:30 p.m. utility officials said all electricity had been restored.
Poteet said about a quarter of the city, mostly in the north and northeast, was affected by the power outage. He did not know when it began.
Police were directing traffic at major intersections while utility crews fixed the problem, Poteet said.
Jeamy Molina, an Oncor spokeswoman, said a transformer problem caused the outage.
February 27, 2008
Man injured during intrusion at substation
From Austin Energy:
A man sustained serious burns over much of his body from an electrical shock while apparently attempting to steal copper wiring from an Austin Energy substation this afternoon. The Kingsbury substation where the incident occurred is located near Airport Boulevard and Springdale Road.
The substation tripped off line at about 3:00 p.m. When Austin Energy crews arrived, two individuals who apparently lived in the area were trying to help the injured man out of the substation. Witnesses said the man’s clothing had been on fire. According to Austin Police, the injured man was airlifted from the site to the Brooks Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
Power comes into the Kingsbury substation at a high voltage where it is stepped down to a lower voltage for distribution to customers. Austin Energy staff estimate that the injured individual could have received as much as 80,000 volts of electricity while trying to remove wiring. Austin Energy crews found openings that had been cut into the substation fence. The substation’s gates were locked.
Austin Energy crews inspecting the substation found multiple equipment grounds missing. Grounds are wiring that runs from equipment into the ground. They are there so that a power surge, which could be caused by lightning or an equipment failure, will flow into the ground rather than into equipment. The inspection also indicated the outage caused by the incident may have resulted in damage to equipment in the substation.
The incident reinforces the very serious dangers associated with tampering in any way with electric system equipment. Theft of copper wiring from electric systems has become an increasing problem in Austin and across the country and a number of deaths have resulted during attempted thefts. Austin Energy has taken steps to shield copper wiring in its substations to make access more difficult and where possible has switched to less valuable materials to try to make the wire less attractive to thieves. The utility is also increasing surveillance around its substations.
The outage caused by the incident affected approximately 7,300 customers in an area from the Colorado River to about 54th Street and from Highway 183 to Chicon. Austin Energy crews performed switching in the field to serve the affected customer through other circuits. Power was restored to all affected customers within about 2 hours.
Power expected to be restored by 6 p.m.
Update from Austin Energy:
Power has been restored to all 7,300 customers in East Austin affected by the earlier outage.
Previous report:
Someone attempting to steal wire from an electricity substation caused power to go out for about 7,300 customers in East Austin this afternoon, Austin Energy spokesman Ed Clark said.
The power went out about 3:30 p.m. and is affecting customers from the Colorado River to 54st Street and U.S. 183 to Chicon Street, Clark said.
He said electricity should be restored by about 6 p.m.
Clark said power went out after someone tried to take ground wire from the Kingsbury substation, near Springdale Road and 183.
A person with burn injuries at the scene was air-lifted to the hospital, Clark said.
Power out to thousands in East Austin
About 7,300 customers are without power in East Austin this afternoon, Austin Energy spokesman Ed Clark said.
The power went out at 3:20 p.m. and is affecting customers from the Colorado River to 51st Street and US 183 to Chicon Street.
He said officials are not yet sure how the outage happened or when power might come back on.
“We’re working on it,” Clark said. “We hope to have the thing resolved as quickly as possible.”
The outage cut power to the Alternative Learning Center, 901 Neal Street, but school officials have no plans to release students early, Austin Independent School District spokeswoman Roxanne Evans said.
