Tarentum crews working to fix power outages

Tarentum electric crews were working Friday afternoon to find the cause of a power outage affecting several parts of the borough, according to borough Manager Michael Nestico.

Nestico provided an update on the situation shortly before 4 p.m. He had been made aware of the outage around 1:30 p.m.

Tarentum operates its own electric distribution system. Crews arrived on-site just before 3 p.m., Nestico said.

“It took a bit more time than usual to have a lineman dispatched to the borough,” he said. “Our regular lineman, who is here daily, is out of the borough today for training purposes. That caused a bit of a delay in response time and assessment of the outage.”

It was not immediately known what areas or how many customers were affected.

Nestico said the borough did not get reports of any blown transformers, downed trees, or any other issues at a utility pole or intersection.

“That makes it a bit more difficult to establish the cause of the issue,” he said. “They have traced the lines and cannot seem to determine what tripped the substation breaker.

“They are now working to replace the fuse so that power may be restored,” he said. “If it trips again, they will have to continue tracing lines until they can determine what is causing the issue.”