Transformer Down

by Amy Kolb Noyes

MORRISTOWN - What customers may have assumed was a run-of-the-mill power
outage in and around Morrisville Friday, August 27, was actually a major
event for Morrisville Water & Light Department.
Around 3:00 Friday morning, MW&L had a transformer go down at substation
five, on Trombley Hill Road. Power was lost to Morristown's north end
business district as well as to a string of residential customers out
toward Elmore. According to MW&L Superintendent Scott Corse, power was
back on for many customers by 6 a.m. Other customers, primarily in
Morristown's north end, got their power back around noon. However, the
fix for those approximately 800 customers was temporary.
Corse said MW&L was able to reroute power to those customers through
substation two, with what he termed a Band Aid fix. A new transformer
comes with a price tag of about $100,000, Corse explained. He said now
MW&L must decide if replacing the sub five transformer is the best way
to go or if there is another, "better alternative."
"We're still evaluating that," said Corse. He added a major event such
as this forces MW&L to evaluate its entire system, to see if the way
things have been run is their best option.