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BASALT — Holy Cross Energy officials hope that the cause of two power outages on Saturday and Sunday happens nevermore.
Ravens disrupted electricity in a wide swath of the midvalley on both days, according to Holy Cross operations manager Craig Murray.
In layman's terms, a raven landed in an electricified portion of the Basalt substation at 6:12 a.m. Saturday and knocked out power, Murray said. On Sunday at 6:06 a.m. “his buddy shows up to find him,” he said. The second raven also got electricified, causing the second outage.
“This is almost creepy,” Murray said.
The outages affected the same service area. About 7,800 residences and businesses were affected between Catherine Store and Watson Divide roads. The outage lasted more than three hours on Saturday and again for two hours on Sunday. The outages affected El Jebel, Basalt, parts of Missouri Heights and areas up Snowmass Creek Road.
Technicians from both Holy Cross Energy, the power provider, and Xcel Energy, from which Holy Cross buys its power, scrambled to the Basalt substation Saturday to assess the problem. They took steps to bypass the problem and restore power in pieces for the midvalley.
Murray traveled outside the valley on Sunday and said he was amazed to learn in the afternoon that a raven caused the outage again. He said he has never heard of two wildlife-related outages in consecutive days in more than 30 years in that line of work.
Saturday's outage was a nuisance for most residential customers of Holy Cross, but restaurants in Basalt and El Jebel were the biggest losers. They had trouble serving customers on what it typically one of their busiest days.
The outages also created dangerous situations for motorists attempting to pull onto Highway 82 from side roads. Traffic signals throughout the midvalley were knocked out.
The outage sent many midvalley residents scrambling on Saturday to get their morning coffee fix. One couple in the Sopris Village subdivision fired up a gas generator so they could brew a cup of coffee, which they offered to share with neighbors.
Another Basalt couple reported that midvalley residents were well represented at a breakfast hotspot in Carbondale during the outage.
The precise timing of the two outages on consecutive days had residents worrying about what would happen Monday morning, but — assuming there are no more distraught ravens — the power supply should be safe.
scondon@aspentimes.com
Ravens disrupted electricity in a wide swath of the midvalley on both days, according to Holy Cross operations manager Craig Murray.
In layman's terms, a raven landed in an electricified portion of the Basalt substation at 6:12 a.m. Saturday and knocked out power, Murray said. On Sunday at 6:06 a.m. “his buddy shows up to find him,” he said. The second raven also got electricified, causing the second outage.
“This is almost creepy,” Murray said.
The outages affected the same service area. About 7,800 residences and businesses were affected between Catherine Store and Watson Divide roads. The outage lasted more than three hours on Saturday and again for two hours on Sunday. The outages affected El Jebel, Basalt, parts of Missouri Heights and areas up Snowmass Creek Road.
Technicians from both Holy Cross Energy, the power provider, and Xcel Energy, from which Holy Cross buys its power, scrambled to the Basalt substation Saturday to assess the problem. They took steps to bypass the problem and restore power in pieces for the midvalley.
Murray traveled outside the valley on Sunday and said he was amazed to learn in the afternoon that a raven caused the outage again. He said he has never heard of two wildlife-related outages in consecutive days in more than 30 years in that line of work.
Saturday's outage was a nuisance for most residential customers of Holy Cross, but restaurants in Basalt and El Jebel were the biggest losers. They had trouble serving customers on what it typically one of their busiest days.
The outages also created dangerous situations for motorists attempting to pull onto Highway 82 from side roads. Traffic signals throughout the midvalley were knocked out.
The outage sent many midvalley residents scrambling on Saturday to get their morning coffee fix. One couple in the Sopris Village subdivision fired up a gas generator so they could brew a cup of coffee, which they offered to share with neighbors.
Another Basalt couple reported that midvalley residents were well represented at a breakfast hotspot in Carbondale during the outage.
The precise timing of the two outages on consecutive days had residents worrying about what would happen Monday morning, but — assuming there are no more distraught ravens — the power supply should be safe.
scondon@aspentimes.com
