Equipment failure causes 1,550 to lose power in Fayette County
An equipment failure on a pole off Route 40 near Nemacolin Woodlands Resort caused approximately 1,550 West Penn Power customers in Henry Clay and Wharton townships and Markleysburg to lose power several hours early Thursday.
According to Todd Meyers, spokesman for West Penn Power, a piece of equipment on the pole, called an insulator, failed, causing live wires to come in contact with the pole. The incident caused damage to the pole, which eventually had to be replaced and wires reconfigured.
The incident occurred at 3:30 a.m. According to Meyers, 100 customers were back on line by 8:30 a.m., but the bulk of the customers — 1,100 had power restored by 11 a.m.
By 1:30 p.m., the company reported 312 remained without power. Most those customers, 293, were in Wharton Township. That power was estimated to be restored by 3 p.m.
“It’s a big job to replace an entire pole and move things around on it,” added Meyers.