Power restored in Hope for most customers after morning outage

By
Mark Webber
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A view of the gazebo and shelter house at Hope Town Square in Hope, Ind., Monday, Oct. 19, 2020. The town square recently underwent a $437,500 renovation thanks to a partnership with town of Hope and the Indiana Main Street program. Mike Wolanin | The Republic Mike Wolanin | The Republic
12:30 P.M. UPDATE

Both Duke Energy and Bartholomew County REMC say they had about 2,000 homes and businesses in the Hope area without electricity for almost four hours Wednesday.

Duke reported that 963 of their customers lost their power shortly after 8 a.m. this morning. Later in the morning, Bartholomew County REMC said their electrical cooperative had more than 1,000 homes and businesses without power.

While REMC customers in the Hope area had their electricity, crews for Duke Energy said they might not be able to restore power for some residents until about 2:30 p.m. this afternoon.

A line fell at the substation along County Road 600N, about a mile west of State Road 9, Duke Energy spokesman Chip Orben said. The substation serves customers of both utilities, REMC spokeswoman Marty Lasure said.

It was a single-phase transmission line that went down, and the disruption of service was largely confined to the Hope area, Orben said.

After seeing a photograph of the damage, Lasure said she was surprised the problem was not with one of the larger main electrical cables that serves northeast Bartholomew County.

“It looks so minor,” Lasure said. “I don’t know how this little bitty line could have resulted in so many people losing their power.”

All power was restored to both Duke and REMC customers by 12:03 p.m., Lasure said.

For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.

ORIGINAL STORY
HOPE — Nearly 1,000 homes and residents in and around Hope lost their power shortly after 8 a.m. this morning.
Duke Energy outage maps indicate the problem that caused 967 homes and businesses to lose their electricity originated at the substation, located on the north side of County Road 600N, about a mile west of Hauser Jr.-Sr. High School in Hope.
At last check, Duke Energy crews were still on the scene attempting to determine an exact cause, according to a text put out by the utility.  At this time, affected homes and businesses are being told that Duke technicians anticipate the power will be restored no later than 11:45 a.m. However, that estimate may be adjusted after crews completed their assessment.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.

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