DUBOIS – A brief thunderstorm rolled through the DuBois area Thursday afternoon. While it did not contain damaging winds, a well placed lightning strike interrupted electric service for about 1 and-one-half hours for approximately 3000 Penelec customers.
According to Penelec Area Manager John Shimko, lightning struck a radio controlled reclosure switch near the intersection of Parkway Drive and DuBois St., near Kohlepps’s. There are two main circuits at that location and both were affected, interrupting power to customers from Reynoldsville to Falls Creek. Because the lightning damaged the controls, radio controlled switching was unable to be performed.
Crews responding to the outage and patrolled the area to ensure that all connections were still intact. Manual switching was then performed to restore the circuits and isolate the damaged equipment to allow for repairs to be made. All service was restored by 4:50 PM.
Penelec thanks customers for their patience during restoration efforts and reminds customers that they can report power outages by calling 1-888-544-4877.