Town looks at solutions following lengthy outage

Haxtun residents experienced a near 20-hour power outage earlier this month and since then, questions continue to arise regarding the power failure and a solution should it ever happen again.

The Town of Haxtun is currently working on a solution should an outage event occur again and Superintendent Ron Carpenter explains how the outage occurred and how it was eventually restored.

On the morning of Dec. 6, the Town of Haxtun experienced a power outage that lasted just shy of 20 hours. The cause of the outage was failure of equipment belonging to Western Area Power Administration at the substation south of town.

“WAPA was notified immediately of the problem and responded with a crew to diagnose and repair the equipment,” Carpenter said. “WAPA was concerned that the transformer that provides the power for Haxtun was the cause of the equipment failure. This transformer is 87 percent owned by the Town of Haxtun and 13 percent owned by WAPA.”

WAPA personnel conducted extensive testing on the transformer to determine its condition and whether or not it was the cause of the power outage. Carpenter said that during this time, the Town of Haxtun requested that a mobile transformer be brought in just in case the transformer was the problem. The mobile unit, he said, had to be transported from Casper, Wyo. as WAPA has only one available unit that is compatible with the Town of Haxtun’s volage.

“Ultimately, it was determined that the transformer at the substation was fine and could be energized once WAPA personnel repaired their equipment,” Carpenter said. “Repairs and testing were competed at approximately 4 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 7 and power was restored to Haxtun.”

Carpenter said during this time he received questions as to why the Town did not run the back up generator. The generator located by the old power plant on Colorado Avenue was decommissioned in 2019 and is inoperable.

“The original purpose of the generator was never meant to be back up power for Haxtun,” explained Carpenter. “It was installed back in 1999 and the power it could produce was leased to the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska as a source of supplemental power for the power grid during times of peak usage. The reason why the generator was decommissioned is due to mechanical failure, age and the ability to meet EPA regulations.”

Carpenter said one of the two generator engines was in need of a complete overhaul and the other needed parts. The estimated cost of repairs at the time was in the range of $250,000-$300,00.

“The engines are 1972 diesel locomotives and parts are extremely difficult to find and in some cases need to be manufactured, if even possible. They are also expensive to run as they use approximately 300 gallons of diesel per hour when operational,” added Carpenter.

He said as a result, it was determined that it would not be fiscally responsible to try and keep the generator operational and so, it was decommissioned.

Since the outage earlier this month, Carpenter and members of the Haxtun Town Council have and are working diligently to research options for power supply in the event of an outage like this in the future.

During the outage, the Town of Haxtun utilized the County’s reverse 911 system as well as social media to keep residents up-to-date on the event. The evening of the outage, an emergency shelter was opened in Paoli for Haxtun residents who needed assistance.

Some Haxtun residents did not receive notifications via the reverse 911 system and the Town of Haxtun and the Haxtun Police Department would like to help those who have not already done so sign up to receive notifications.

To sign up for reverse 911 notifications, call the Haxtun Police Department at (970) 774-6289 and leave a message. You may also contact Vickie Freemyer at (970) 580-2239 for more information.