'It's miserable': Heat, transformer issues lead to daily power outages in New Oxford

The combination of excessive heat and transformer issues has left many New Oxford area residents frustrated as they experienced daily power outages this week.

Fred Widdowson, who has lived in New Oxford for 18 years, said power outages have rarely happened in his neighborhood until this week.

"It doesn't happen very often," he said.

That changed on Monday, when Widdowson experienced a several-hour outage during the day.

Then, on Tuesday, another outage struck, followed by yet another on Wednesday.

"It's miserable," said Widdowson, who is 68 and has a 74-year-old wife, "you know, the heat affects us."

Todd Meyers, a spokesperson for Met-Ed, said this week's outages stem from the company's substation in New Oxford.

Several months ago, Meyers said, the main transformer for the substation required repairs.

That meant that Met-Ed had to bring in a mobile transformer, a unit on a flatbed truck, to fill in for the main transformer while it was undergoing repairs, Meyers said.

On Monday, likely due to the excessive heat and extra load on the system from air conditioners, the mobile unit tripped off, Meyers said.

That led to a four-hour disruption of power to around 2,000 customers in the New Oxford area, according to Meyers.

On Monday, according to records from Accuweather, temperatures peaked around 96 degrees in the area.

On Tuesday, crews completed repairs on the main transformer for the substation, and switched power back to the main transformer from the mobile unit, he said.

Later on Tuesday, the main transformer experienced an issue and shut itself down, leading to an outage for the same 2,000 customers while crews worked to reconnect the substation to the mobile transformer that was still on site.

Then, on Wednesday, that mobile unit tripped off once again, Meyers said, "likely due to the increased demand from air conditioners fighting the persistent heat."

During the Wednesday outage, only around 400 customers were affected, Meyers said, as the company was able to reroute power in the network to still provide power to many in the area.

Meyers explained that transformers, along with other electrical equipment in substations, will shut themselves off in order to prevent potential damage to equipment from overheating.

"Met-Ed’s substation electricians are working tirelessly to assess the condition of the main transformer to determine next steps," said Meyers, "and we appreciate the patience of our Met-Ed customers as we work through these issues."

For Widdowson, and many other residents, the recurring outages have left them frustrated.

Widdowson initially had trouble reaching anyone from Met-Ed, he said, which led him to reach out to the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission, where he filed an informal complaint about the outages.

Widdowson also spoke with representatives from state Rep. Torren Ecker's office, who he described as being very helpful. Ecker's office reached out directly to their Met-Ed liaison, Widdowson said, who told them that they will be sending crews out to further investigate the issues facing the substation.

Many other residents have taken to Facebook to voice their concerns, with countless social media posts airing their frustrations.

In one post, one user recommended the "New Oxford Area Watch Group" change its name to "N.O. Electric."

Another user posted a video of the clock on their oven flashing, asking, "why even bother?"

On Thursday, with temperatures being in the "cooler" 80-degrees, according to Accuweather, Widdowson hopes that Met-Ed will have the issues under control.

But after this week of outages, Widdowson is now looking into getting a whole-home generator, he said.

Despite the slight reprieve from the heat expected Thursday through Saturday, temperatures are expected to peak above 97 degrees on Monday and Tuesday of the coming week, according to Accuweather.