UPDATE: Power restored after major outage in Chippewa County

UPDATE:

When power went down to more than 40 per cent of power consumers in Chippewa County yesterday, Cloverland Electrical Cooperative said it wouldn't be restored until after midnight. The Sault Michigan company managed to replace a pole, repair a high-voltage transmission line and bring a substation back online to restore power to all Chippewa County members by midnight. 

The full text of a release from Cloverland Electrical Cooperative follows.

A transmission power line in the Sault Ste. Marie (Michigan) area sustained an outage Monday, Sept. 16 at 4:35 p.m. American Transmission Company (ATC) reported that the outage was caused by a fire that damaged one of its poles. Approximately 6,700 Cloverland Electric Cooperative members were initially affected. At 8 p.m., a substation was taken offline to make additional repairs affecting another 2,700 co-op members in downtown Sault Ste. Marie. Once Cloverland crews replaced the damaged pole, power was restored to a total of 9,459 at midnight. The exact cause of the fire is under investigation.

Why did this outage affect so many members?

Transmission lines (high voltage, typically between 69 kV and 765 kV) move electricity from power plants to substations over long distances, while distribution lines (lower voltage, typically between 2 kV and 35 kV) move electricity from substations to consumers over shorter distances. When a pole fire affects a transmission line, it often affects power for thousands of members, unfortunately.

Why did outage restoration take so long?

A typical pole replacement takes line crews 3 to 4 hours to complete. This process includes assessing the damage, digging a hole using special equipment, fitting the pole with crossarms, insulators, ground wires and arm braces, then raising the new pole, and backfilling and attaching the wires. Outages often affect connections to substation equipment, so additional repairs are necessary at substations, which can extend restoration time.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Cloverland Electric Cooperative reports power is still out in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich and Dafter and may be out until Tuesday morning.

As of the last update at 9:30 p.m. Cloverland reports just over 40 per cent (9,449 customers) of Chippewa County is without power with restoration not expected for many until after midnight or by Tuesday morning for some.

"An American Transmission Company (ATC) power line in the Sault Ste. Marie area sustained an outage today at 4:30 p.m. E.T. Crews are working to restore service as quickly and safely as possible," said an update shared on Cloverland Electric Cooperative's website. "We anticipate service will be restored early Tuesday morning."

The utility company reported the outage at 4:35 p.m. and suggested people check the outage map for more information.

The map shows that 2,821 customers east of downtown in the Sault as well as another 1,547 customers near 3 Mile Road East and 2,326 near 3 Mile Road West lost power at 4:35 p.m.

At 6:15 p.m., Cloverland alerted customers power restoration would involve the replacement of a pole and would probably take three or four hours but at 8 p.m., the utility company reported the need to take a substation offline temporarily. That meant another 2,700 members of the Sault community lost power at 7:42 p.m. bringing the total to 9,449.

"Unfortunately, the estimated restoration time will now be after midnight," said Cloverland. "Members with medical necessities should activate medical backup plans."

That's also the time the live feed of tonight's City Commission meeting being broadcast on YouTube abruptly stopped.

Cloverland said an ATC utility pole caught fire causing the initial outage but the cause of the fire is unknown and under investigation at time of publication.

Sault Ste. Marie Police Department have taken to social media to remind people driving where street lights and traffic lights to use caution, obey directions of any police officers directing traffic and treat intersections without traffic signals or an officer directing traffic like four-way stops.