54°F
weather icon Clear

Cable fault blamed for power outage

The power outage that occurred in Boulder City late last week was the result of a faulted cable and not the delayed installation of the new transformer, according to a city official.

The outage, which began at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20, and lasted until 5:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, affected 200 homes on Georgia Avenue, Christina Drive, Darlene Way, Jeri Lane, Capri Drive and Sandra Drive.

Boulder City’s Electrical Distribution Supervisor Marvis E. Poole said it was caused by a faulted primary cable that caused more stress to other equipment and parts of the electrical system.

“The fault current at the time of this failure was great, causing stress to weaker parts of the electrical infrastructure in that area. There does exist a current redundancy to the electrical system. … However because there were multiple stresses to the system, each location and switching point had to be tested and verified,” he said. “Some of which proved to be inaccurate in our mapping system. This added to the length of outage.”

A cable fault, which causes a short, happens when a power cable deteriorates so that it can no longer contain the electrical current.

Poole said the electric division is in the process of remapping the entire grid to fix the deficiencies found during the power outage.

Additionally, he said this outage was not caused by the delay in the installation of the city’s new backup transformer, which was delivered in April 2018.

“The addition of this new transformer to the electrical system would not have prevented the outage on Sept. 20, as it has no bearing on the city’s electrical infrastructure,” Poole said. “It is a source of power to the entire overall system.”

Several months after the new transformer was delivered, a leaky part was discovered, which pushed its installation to October to avoid the hot summer months.

The new transformer cost approximately $1.1 million, and this delay has not caused an increase to the project.

Contact reporter Celia Shortt Goodyear at cgoodyear@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow her on Twitter @csgoodyear.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
Council candidate slate set

A total of seven candidates for city council and three candidates for justice of the peace of Boulder Township will face off in the primary election scheduled for June 11.

Ultrarunner to push himself to the limit

It’s not uncommon for friends or even family members to try and best one another whether that be athletics, academics or relationships.

Vets home hit with 18 citations

In a recent unannounced inspection, the Southern Nevada State Veterans’ Home was cited 18 times for issues ranging from verbal abuse of a patient to failing to provide meals at an appropriate temperature, to employees not having keys to locked gates, which would be needed in the case of an emergency evacuation.

BDCU looks back on past year at annual meeting

For more than eight decades, the Boulder Dam Credit Union has been the most popular place for Boulder City residents to do their banking, not to mention see friends and neighbors.

Top o’ the evening to ya

Photos by Ron Eland/Boulder City Review

BC repaint: Countdown is on

It’s almost time to don that old pair of jeans, the ratty tennis shoes in the back of your closet and a shirt you’re not worried about ruining.

Management of veterans’ home sparks controversy

Documents provided to the Boulder City Review by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) appear to back up many of the accusations leveled at the Nevada Department of Veterans Services (NDVS) and leadership of the Southern Nevada State Veterans Home which is located in Boulder City by current and former employees over the past year. Many of the same issues were also noted by CMS surveyors in an inspection of the home that occurred in January.

Spending for proposed pool to be on Nov. ballot

During Tuesday’s Boulder City Council meeting, City Manager Taylour Tedder may have summed things up best.

Historic preservation event set for May

It’s a couple of months away, but scheduling for events tied to Historic Preservation Day — slated for May 11 —are pretty set and revolve around the theme of Trains, Planes and Automobiles.