W’boro’s planned 2-hour power outage lasts 8 hours

A planned power outage in the city of Whitesboro last week that was expected to last only a couple of hours left residents without power for up to eight hours.

A junction pole on the east side of town at Beauty Lane and Hwy. 377 had begun to split down the middle and was in need of a full replacement. That single pole controls power to North Avenue, Bois D’Arc Street, Beauty Lane and Sloan Drive. It was connected to two other electric poles in that area that had also, over time, begun to deteriorate. It was determined all three should be replaced simultaneously.

While the pole replacements would need to be a two-day project, the power outage would only take place on one day. The project was scheduled for June 19 and 20, however, the contractor hired to team up with the city’s electric department had to reschedule the project due to assisting with emergency storm damage recovery efforts in other cities.

In Whitesboro, power was shut off the morning of June 25 and was expected to last anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours. But once linemen began the process of working on these high-amp poles, they realized the work was going to be more in-depth than expected. Two hours became four and, after 2 p.m., the city issued an apology on social media.

“We understand how frustrating and inconvenient this disruption is, especially during the day-to-day demands of life,” their post on Facebook read. “Please know that crews are working diligently to complete the necessary repairs, and full power is expected to be restored by 4:30 p.m. today.

While we know this outage is an inconvenience, the repairs underway are essential to the long-term strength and safety of our city’s infrastructure. Your patience and understanding during this time mean so much, and we thank you for bearing with us.”

For many residents, the apology wasn’t enough. While a few people commented thanking the city for keeping citizens informed and for the hard work of the linemen, many responded to the post with complaints about poor communication and mis-managed expectations. 

Several people said if they’d known ahead of time that the project was going to take all day, they could have made other plans for work-from-home situations and food preservation. 

The power outage also caused several of the city’s businesses to close for the day. Electric workers completed the project and power was restored around 5:30 p.m. 

“It’s hard for people to understand,” Whitesboro Electric Supervisor Jacob Villarreal said. “They flip on a switch and power comes on. I wish they could see what all goes into getting that power to their homes and businesses. Not only were those poles hot (live electricity) but they used copper wire over the highway, which is more fragile and takes more care. We had to go slow to keep our guys safe.”

In addition to replacing the poles, the electric department isolated lines and made some upgrades, including the addition of fuses to two of the poles to minimize the impact of power loss if a line is tripped in the future. 

The project is complete and the department doesn’t expect any more work needed in that area.

“Every time we drove by that pole, we held our breath. We were just waiting for a 2 a.m. call to tell us that it had fallen during the night,” Villarreal said. “I’m so happy the work has been done.”