COUNTY NEWS RELEASE

A scheduled power outage is affecting much of the Los Alamos townsite. Utility customers on North Mesa, Barranca Mesa and in North Community are currently without power while utility line workers from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities (DPU) collaborate on a feeder repair.

The outage began an hour late, at noon, due to an issue with moving a grouping of customers to a backup feeder. While duration estimates were broad initially—from one to eight hours—now that the repair is in process, the outage is estimated to be over at around 3:00 p.m. 

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.

Once LANL’s line workers were able to assess the fault on Monday, they ordered parts for the repair. On Tuesday, a plan was developed between the two parties to repair the equipment on Wednesday. The plan required bringing power down for the duration of the work.