Cause of Outage Determined; Update on Island Generator Power
PCL Construction, the company constructing the new Bonner Bridge, has informed CHEC that they drove a steel casing into the underground transmission cable that runs between the south end of the Bonner Bridge and the overhead riser pole, causing the current transmission outage.
CHEC is working to assess the extent of the damage and plan for the repair. Assuming that the cooperative has the materials on hand, repairs could take several days to complete. If materials are not available locally, repairs could take weeks.
CHEC is currently providing temporary power to Buxton, Frisco and part of Hatteras Village via the diesel generating plant. The cooperative is bringing in additional portable generators to supplement the diesel plant. These generators will begin to arrive tonight. Once the generators are online, the cooperative will initiate rolling blackouts.
This will only be possible if load is at minimal levels and everyone is conserving. To minimize load, please turn off AC units and minimize other electrical usage.
