A power outage that affected about 1,211 customers for six hours overnight was the result of a distribution transformer malfunction at the Brantley substation on Monument Street. The substation serves the Industrial Avenue area and the Riverview Industrial Park located at the intersection of U.S. 29 Bypass and U.S. 58.
The problem developed at approximately 8 p.m. Monday. Service was restored at 2 a.m. Tuesday by switching the load to other substations.
“The transformer remains down,” said Ken Ashworth, director of the power and light division of Danville Utilities. “Our other substations are currently carrying the load normally supplied by the Brantley substation.”
In addition to switching the power load to other substations, Ashworth said crews are placing a mobile substation in service at Brantley to be able to support the additional power load expected with the arrival of colder temperatures tonight.
The mobile substation is a fully equipped electrical substation that can be mounted on a semi-trailer. Danville Utilities uses the mobile substation as an emergency backup.
Power transformers are one of the principal elements of power systems. Ashworth said the malfunction of the Brantley distribution transformer took place when the transformer’s bushings exploded. The cause of the explosion is not known at this time.