MonPower alerted customers in the Buckeye, Cass, Dunmore, Marlinton, Minnehaha Springs and Stony Bottom areas well in advance of last week’s planned power outage. But when the power went out in the Snowshoe, Slaty Fork and Shavers Lake area of the county – that was a different situation altogether. According to a MonPower representative, the problem began about 4 p.m. Tuesday when a massive transformer failed internally. The company inspects such transformers prior to the summer season in anticipation of the usual increased load. If there is a propensity for a transformer to fail, the company replaces it. There was no indication that the transformer at the Linwood Substation on Snowshoe Mountain was a problem. “The transformer will need to be replaced,” MonPower said, “but given the size and expense, it is not a part that we keep on the shelf. It’s a pretty big deal.” The quick remedy to the problem came in the form of a mobile substation, situated on a flat-bed trailer, and hauled by a tractor trailer from Hagerstown, Maryland, to Snowshoe Mountain. The substation began its journey Wednesday morning at 10:30 a.m. By 8 a.m. Thursday, service was restored to the nearly 1,100 affected customers.
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