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Half of power outages this year caused by falling trees, tree limbs

Posted at 3:13 pm July 22, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A fallen tree on Wiltshire Drive caused widespread power outages on Thursday, May 27, 2021. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

Half of the power outages in Oak Ridge this year have been caused by falling trees and tree limbs, Electric Director Ardo Ba told City Council on Tuesday.

Since January, vegetation has accounted for about 50 percent of power outages, Ba said.

Animals such as squirrels and snakes have caused about 13 percent of the power outages in the past six to seven months, and equipment failures, traffic crashes, and other causes have accounted for roughly 37 percent of the outages, Ba said.

Ba provided some details about significant power outages this year. The largest outage occurred on July 8 on Tuskegee Drive near a city fire station, when a transmission line switch caught fire. More than 8,400 people power.

The next largest outage was caused by a tree falling on a transmission line on Wiltshire Drive on May 27. The 150-foot tree that fell on the transmission line had been well outside the right-of-way, Ba said. That line provided a main feed to two substations, and more than 7,200 customers lost power when the tree fell on the transmission line.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: Ardo Ba, Oak Ridge City Council, power outage

Fallen tree causes widespread power outages

Posted at 9:14 pm May 27, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A fallen tree on Wiltshire Drive caused widespread power outages in Oak Ridge on Thursday, May 27, 2021. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

A fallen tree on Wiltshire Drive caused widespread power outages in Oak Ridge on Thursday evening.

The City of Oak Ridge reported the power outages at about 8 p.m. Thursday. The city said the Oak Ridge Electric Department was working to repair power, and at about 9 p.m., the city said power could be restored to most customers within an hour.

Filed Under: Government, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Electric Department, power outage

Power outages planned in west Oak Ridge on Saturday

Posted at 3:38 pm December 5, 2019
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge electrical infrastructure (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Electric Department is advising customers in far west Oak Ridge of two planned power outages set for Saturday, December 7.

The first outage is scheduled to take place close to 7 a.m., with the second outage set for 2 p.m. Each outage is expected to be brief, lasting approximately 15 minutes.

Customers likely to be affected by the planned outages include the far west end of Oak Ridge at or near The Preserve.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge Tagged With: Oak Ridge Electric Department, power outage, Tennessee Valley Authority, west Oak Ridge

Trees down, power outages reported after thunderstorm

Posted at 3:08 pm October 31, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Fallen Tree Michigan Avenue Oct. 31 2019
A tree fell across Michigan Avenue during a severe thunderstorm in Oak Ridge on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

Trees fell and power outages were reported after a thunderstorm in Oak Ridge on Thursday.

The fallen trees and power outages were because of strong winds and heavy rain that lasted a few hours starting at about 11 a.m. Thursday, the City of Oak Ridge said.

The Oak Ridge Public Works Department and Electric Department are responding to the damage reports and making repairs, the city said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Slider, Weather, Weather Tagged With: City of Oak Ridge, fallen tree, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oak Ridge Public Works Department, power outage

Fallen tree causes widespread power outages

Posted at 8:12 am August 6, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A fallen tree caused the widespread power outages in Oak Ridge on Sunday afternoon, city officials said.

On Monday, the city didn’t have an exact number of homes and businesses affected by the power outages after heavy rain and lightning hit Oak Ridge on Sunday afternoon. The Oak Ridge Police Department had reported on Sunday that the power outage was nearly citywide.

On Monday, the Oak Ridge Electric Department said a fallen tree along Oak Ridge Turnpike near Gum Hollow Road caused the outage on Sunday. Three substations were affected, which led to outages across much of the city. The outage lasted about one hour, the city said.

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge Tagged With: Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Electric Department, power outage

Power restored after being out across most of city

Posted at 4:11 pm August 4, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Note: This story was updated at 4:30 p.m.

Power has been restored to most, if not all, customers after being out across nearly all of Oak Ridge on Sunday afternoon, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.

If you are still without power, you can call (865) 425-1803.

The cause of the power outages weren’t immediately clear, but there were thunderstorms over Oak Ridge on Sunday afternoon. The storms brought heavy rain and lightning and thunder.

It wasn’t immediately clear how long the power was out for different customers and where.

It would be the second major outage in Oak Ridge since mid-June, the weekend of the Secret City Festival, when the city had several electrical power outages. The most widespread outage that weekend occurred Saturday afternoon, when approximately 11,455 homes and businesses were affected across the city. The outage area included nearly everything north of the Oak Ridge Turnpike and west of Rutgers Avenue. Other areas in the central-south part of the city were also affected. Power was out for about two hour and 20 minutes.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Government, Oak Ridge Tagged With: 38 Special, electrical power outage, Loverboy, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Fire Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, power outage, Secret City Festival

Woman injured by falling tree during Sunday storms

Posted at 12:34 pm April 15, 2019
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

A woman was injured by a falling tree at a home on Nesper Road during the storms on Sunday, April 14, 2019, Oak Ridge officials said. A fallen tree damaged a quadplex near Nesper Road and New York Avenue. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

A woman was injured by a falling tree at a home on Nesper Road during the storms on Sunday, Oak Ridge officials said.

A storm at about 4:15 p.m. Sunday hit Oak Ridge with heavy rain and strong winds, the city said.

“As a result, there were widespread power outages across the city with downed power lines and fallen trees,” the city said.

Emergency crews responded to many storm damage calls, including a roof that was partially blown off a building on Warehouse Road. Trees fell on buildings and houses and across roads.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Slider, Weather, Weather Tagged With: City of Oak Ridge, CodeRed Emergency Notification, falling tree, Nesper Road, power outage, storm

About 11,500 customers lose power due to lightning strike at substation

Posted at 5:29 pm June 28, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

About 11,500 homes and businesses lost power due to a lightning strike at one of the city’s main substations on Thursday morning, officials said.

The widespread power outage was reported at 6:18 a.m. Thursday. Power lost due to the lightning strike was restored before 7:15 a.m., the Oak Ridge Electric Department said.

The Electric Department said there were widespread electric outages as storms moved through the area Thursday morning. The storms included high winds, heavy rains, and intense lightning. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Top Stories, Weather Tagged With: electric outages, lightning strike, Oak Ridge Electric Department, power outage

Tree limb temporarily knocks out power to about 900 customers

Posted at 11:51 am August 11, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A Friday morning power outage caused by a tree limb temporarily knocked out power to about 900 customers, the City of Oak Ridge said.

Oak Ridge Electric Department Director Jack Suggs said electric service was interrupted at about 7:15 a.m. Friday to an area centered on Highland Avenue, including portions of Robertsville Road, West Outer Drive, and adjacent streets. The outage was caused by a tree limb that blew into the line near Robertsville, Suggs said.

The limb was located and removed. The system was inspected, and power was restored by about 8:25 a.m., Suggs said.

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge Tagged With: City of Oak Ridge, Highland Avenue, Jack Suggs, Oak Ridge Electric Department, power outage

Updated: Power restored after Saturday afternoon outage

Posted at 1:53 pm July 15, 2017
By John Huotari 1 Comment

Note: This story was updated at 8:50 a.m. July 16.

Power was restored Saturday afternoon after a large outage in central Oak Ridge.

There were reports that some traffic lights were out, and power was reported out at some businesses and homes.

The Oak Ridge Police Department urged drivers to use caution going through intersections in a Nixle alert sent out at 1:21 p.m. Saturday. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Police Department, power outage

Crews working to restore power on west end

Posted at 11:19 pm January 3, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

louisiana-avenue-tree-on-power-line-jan-3-2017

A fallen tree or trees knocked down power lines along Louisiana Avenue on Tuesday night, Jan. 3, 2017, and crews were working to restore power in west Oak Ridge on the north side of Oak Ridge Turnpike, including the area around Louisiana Avenue and Robertsville Road. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 12:50 a.m.

Crews were working to restore power on the west end of Oak Ridge on Tuesday night, including in the area around Louisiana Avenue and Robertsville Road.

A fallen tree or trees knocked down power lines along Louisiana Avenue north of Robertsville Road, and crews were working to restore power on the north side of Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: City of Oak Ridge, fallen trees, Lasalle Road, Louisiana Avenue, power outage, restore power, Robertsville Road, west Oak Ridge

Updated: Power restored Saturday after Friday evening storm

Posted at 1:00 pm July 9, 2016
By John Huotari 2 Comments

Utility Workers Dana Drive July 9 2016 1JPG

There were still scattered power outages in Oak Ridge late Saturday morning, July 9, 2016, and crews were working to make repairs. Above, utility crews replace a utility pole and repair lines on Dana Drive after a large tree fell during a severe storm on Friday evening. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:25 p.m.

All known power issues in Oak Ridge are repaired, the Oak Ridge Electric Department said Saturday evening.

Crews worked to restore power Saturday in what were reported to be scattered outages. If you are still without power Saturday night, please call the Oak Ridge Electric Department at (865) 425-1803.

City workers had reported scattered outages in Oak Ridge earlier Saturday after a severe storm roared through Oak Ridge Friday evening.

It wasn’t clear how many customers were affected by power outages. The Oak Ridge Police Department had reported a major power outage on Friday evening. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Government, Oak Ridge, Slider, Weather, Weather Tagged With: Cooper Circle, Dana Drive, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Electric Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, power outage

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Classifieds

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

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