Three days of power problems now solved

For three recent days there were power problems in Wake Forest. The first, on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, were a series of intermittent 3- to 4-second outages which had homeowners scrambling to reset computer equipment and their TVs. The culprit was one of the smallest pieces of Wake Forest Power, a small switch. Monday’s problem affected the South White Street downtown area where a blown fuse led to a fault in an underground power line. Power was restored to all the stores and shops by 7 p.m. that night.
The Town of Wake Forest and Wake Forest Power issued a full explanation of the problems with a heartfelt apology to customers. It ends with a review of the town power agency’s reserve of power – even at peak use Wake Forest uses less than half the power it has available – and how the town compares to other municipal-owned power departments.
Here is the official message; please read it all.
“Wake Forest Power officials have determined that the intermittent outages that affected approximately 1,000 customers Saturday and Sunday were caused by a faulty switch at the intersection of North College Street and West Juniper Avenue. Crews located and replaced that switch late Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday, officials initially thought the outages were being caused by a circuit breaker issue at one of the substations. Crews followed the normal protocol when addressing the problem, and the outages stopped – only to resume on Sunday. That’s when they began a more intensive investigation that eventually led to the discovery of the true culprit – the faulty switch.
According to Wake Forest Police, only the intersection at South White Street/US 1A and Dr. Calvin Jones Highway/NC 98 Bypass was impacted Saturday, while on Sunday, the following intersections were affected:
• Dr Calvin Jones / S Main St
• Capital Blvd /Dr Calvin Jones
• Jones Dairy /Dr Calvin Jones
• Traditions Grande Blvd/ Dr Calvin Jones
• Heritage Lake Rd/ Dr Calvin Jones
• Dr Calvin Jones /S Franklin St
• N White St /Roosevelt Ave
• N Allen Rd/Wait Ave
Thanks to the prompt attention and efforts of the Wake Forest Police Department, no accidents were reported either day at any of these intersections.
On Monday, approximately 100 customers in the downtown area lost power due to a blown fuse along East Jones Avenue near South White Street – unrelated to the intermittent outages over the weekend. Once the fuse was located and replaced, power was restored to most of the affected customers, yet several businesses along South White Street remained without electricity. Further investigation revealed that the blown fuse was caused by a fault in an underground power line along South White, which prevented a quicker restoration of power to those businesses. Crews worked throughout the day Monday and finished repairing the line around 7 p.m. effectively restoring power to all the businesses along South White Street.
We are truly sorry for the inconvenience and frustration these outages caused and will continue working to improve our processes, including the ways customers can report outages and the manner and timeliness in which we communicate with customers about interruptions to their electric service.
Contrary to some reports, however, these outages were not caused by or in any way related to insufficient capacity or electricity shortfalls. So, anyone who suggests that they were the result of the growth and development occurring around town is simply wrong.
For anyone not associated with the “don’t confuse me with facts” crowd, consider that Wake Forest Power has a total load capacity of 120 megawatts (MW).
Over the last four years, during its highest peak months, Wake Forest Power’s average electrical load demand was 40 MW. During an average month, it’s around 20 MW.
So, with a total capacity of 120 MW, Wake Forest Power could literally double the load demand during its highest peak months and still have sufficient capacity to handle it.
Despite our recent challenges, let’s not forget that back in December, when several North Carolina cities and towns were experiencing extensive outages and rolling blackouts due to the demand for heat during extremely cold temperatures, Wake Forest Power recorded zero outages.
That kind of performance is why the American Public Power Association (APPA) recognized Wake Forest Power earlier this year for “achieving exceptional electric reliability” by providing dependable electric service 99 percent of the time in 2022.
But that’s not all. APPA also recognized Wake Forest Power for limiting the amount of time the average customer spent without power last year.
APPA helps its members track outage and restoration data through its eReliability Tracker service, then compares the data to national statistics tracked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration for all types of electric utilities. According to the numbers for 2022, WFP’s average outage time was only 47 minutes, compared to around 76 minutes for other public power communities our size. This means that measured over approximately 7,000 electric meters, a customer’s total outage time was about 30 minutes shorter than the national average.”
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