WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2000

4-hour power outage ascribed to high demands on system From staff reports

About 800 homes and businesses were left without power  which on Tuesday afternoon translated mostly to air conditioning  when a breaker went off line at an Empire District Electric Co. substation at 32nd Street and Range Line.

The power outage occurred about 4:20 p.m. and affected Empire customers in an area between Seventh and 28th streets and Range Line and Connecticut Avenue, according to Jay McBee, company spokesman. Power to all of the customers had been restored by 8:25 p.m., he said.

McBee said the outage was the result of unusually high power demands on the system  with afternoon temperatures in the upper 90s  and the impact the high temperatures have on the electrical system.

A substation is similar to your home breaker system, he said. If theres a power overload, breakers open up to protect the system.

Power consumption is unusually high right now, and the (electrical) system is basically a machine. The more heat you introduce into it, the more likely you are to have mechanical failures

http://www.joplinglobe.com/000823/regional/story5.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), August 23, 2000