COUNTY NEWS RELEASE

The scheduled power outage affecting much of the Los Alamos townsite will continue past the estimated resolution time of 3:00 p.m. Initial repairs didn’t hold so electric crews from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities (DPU) are continuing to work to fix the system. A new estimate for restoration has not been set yet.

The outage began at noon after a short delay due to an unexpected issue encountered while moving a grouping of customers to a backup feeder. 

The Los Alamos townsite is supplied electricity through two feeders that are part of LANL’s electric distribution system. After the power passes through the feeders, it is delivered to customers through DPU’s distribution system. On Sunday, a fault occurred on one of LANL’s feeders, triggering an outage for the townsite. While DPU and LANL were able to restore power to the townsite within 30 minutes, the repair was a temporary fix and DPU’s distribution system for the townsite was operating without a backup. Today’s work will restore the system to its previous state with two feeders for the townsite.

A Code Red alert will be sent out to registered customers in the areas affected by the outage, which includes North Community, Quemazon, the Aspen School area, North Mesa and Barranca Mesa.

Due to the cold temperatures outside, anyone in the outage area seeking a warm spot to wait may go to the Betty Ehart Senior Center or the Mesa Public Library. The county’s bus service, Atomic City Transit, is

running regular routes throughout town for those who need rides. Anyone needing special transportation assistance may call ACT at 505-661-7433 to arrange a ride. 

To stay informed as this situation develops, residents are encouraged to follow DPU on Facebook, Twitter and NextDoor.