GETTYSBURG TIMES (07/11/07): "Power Outage Snarls Afternoon Commute in Gettysburg Area"
BY SCOT ANDREW PITZER & RICK FULTON
Times Staff Writers
A rush-hour power outage in Gettysburg and surrounding areas contributed to a chaotic half-hour commute for drivers between 4:45-5:45 p.m. yesterday.
Traffic signals were inoperable for a portion of the late afternoon Gettysburg commute, angering trapped motorists.
To compound matters, smoke from an emergency electric generator at the Adams County Courthouse was mistaken for an electrical fire, leading to a section of Baltimore Street being closed for emergency vehicles.
Met-Ed spokesman Ernie Waters told the Times that the outages were the result of a routine maintenance blunder at a substation.
“The outage was all precipitated by a contractor doing something that was a mistake,” Waters said via phone Tuesday evening.
When crews addressed the initial outage, another electrical botch occurred.
“We had contractors doing preventive maintenance work in one of the substations, and one of those contractors inadvertently caused some problems,” Waters said.
Met-Ed officials did not disclose the contractor or substation responsible for the power outage.
The first outage began around 4:45 p.m., and power was restored, Waters said, within a half-hour.
But the misadventure became increasingly more complicated.
“In the process of restoring that power, a switch was thrown that started another outage,” Waters explained.
Electrical power was completely restored, in all areas, by 6 p.m.
Officials confirmed that the smoke reported alongside the Courthouse was not related to any fire, but was merely the exhaust produced by the emergency power supply.
County maintenance director George Groft said the generator had kicked-on as a result of the area power outage, and was not the cause of it.
Met-Ed reported that between 5,000 and 10,000 Gettysburg customers had suffered a black-out during the 30 minute power outage, as well as about 500 customers in the Biglerville area.
Outages involving 500 customers up to 2,000 were reported in scattered locations in York County as well.
Times Staff Writers
A rush-hour power outage in Gettysburg and surrounding areas contributed to a chaotic half-hour commute for drivers between 4:45-5:45 p.m. yesterday.
Traffic signals were inoperable for a portion of the late afternoon Gettysburg commute, angering trapped motorists.
To compound matters, smoke from an emergency electric generator at the Adams County Courthouse was mistaken for an electrical fire, leading to a section of Baltimore Street being closed for emergency vehicles.
Met-Ed spokesman Ernie Waters told the Times that the outages were the result of a routine maintenance blunder at a substation.
“The outage was all precipitated by a contractor doing something that was a mistake,” Waters said via phone Tuesday evening.
When crews addressed the initial outage, another electrical botch occurred.
“We had contractors doing preventive maintenance work in one of the substations, and one of those contractors inadvertently caused some problems,” Waters said.
Met-Ed officials did not disclose the contractor or substation responsible for the power outage.
The first outage began around 4:45 p.m., and power was restored, Waters said, within a half-hour.
But the misadventure became increasingly more complicated.
“In the process of restoring that power, a switch was thrown that started another outage,” Waters explained.
Electrical power was completely restored, in all areas, by 6 p.m.
Officials confirmed that the smoke reported alongside the Courthouse was not related to any fire, but was merely the exhaust produced by the emergency power supply.
County maintenance director George Groft said the generator had kicked-on as a result of the area power outage, and was not the cause of it.
Met-Ed reported that between 5,000 and 10,000 Gettysburg customers had suffered a black-out during the 30 minute power outage, as well as about 500 customers in the Biglerville area.
Outages involving 500 customers up to 2,000 were reported in scattered locations in York County as well.
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