by John Waters
Publisher

(AUG. 4)

South Brewster County residents awoke to no electricity on the morning of Wednesday, July 30 in what was to be the start of almost 2 days without power.

Power was lost on Wednesday morning at about 2:30am and restored at 11:20 am. Power was again lost at about 4:30 in the afternoon and restored on Thursday at about 1 pm.

A third interruption of power occurred Saturday, Aug. 2.

Dan Laws, Chief Executive Officer of Rio Grande Electric, told the Gazette the first power outage occurred when a lightning strike hit a transmission pole near Altuda, between Alpine and Marathon. The pole caught on fire, necessitating the replacement of the pole, which is a lengthy process. Adverse weather including muddy conditions increased the replacement time according to Laws.

The second outage on the afternoon of the 30th was a double punch when a lightning strike hit a relay station near the intersection of Hwys 90 and 67 and winds blew down 5 poles in South County. The time needed to deliver the replacment poles added to the length of the outage said Laws.

South County is at the end of 53 miles of transmission line and an additional 70 miles of distribution lines, explained Laws. The lines end in South Brewster and are not part of a loop system that would allow for a quick diversion of power from another source during power shortages/outages. Without the loop, says Laws, crews must be dispatched to the scene of a power failure to make repairs rather that having a technician in a control room instantly divery power through the loop.

The capital cost of creating a loop in South County is between $18-$20 million, a sum RGE can’t afford. However, American Electric Power (AEP) has now finalized plans to construct a new power line from Marfa to Presidio with enough capacity for RGE to create a loop by enhancing its lines via Terlingua, Lajitas and on to Presidio.

The AEP Marfa to Presidio project is expected to take two years and according to Laws RGE will begin work on its upgrades to meet the AEP completion dates. “This is the cost effective fix we’ve needed” said Laws.

Restitution for losses incurred by the outages will only be covered if RGE is found to be negligent. For losses caused by lightning strikes and other acts beyond the control of the utility, restitution will not be made.

Laws apologized to the community: “We have significantly improved conditions. I hate for those folks to do without.”

Laws will be holding a “town hall” meeting in Terlingua tentatively sometime during first week of August to address residents’ concerns about the outages and the frequent power disruptions. At press time, the place and time for the meeting were undetermined. For more information, call RGE: 800-749-1509.