Thousands of Memphis residents found themselves in a sudden blackout as outages swept through several neighborhoods on Monday evening. According to Action News 5, the power disruption began around 8:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., affecting areas such as Berclair, Orange Mound, Midtown, and the vicinity of the University of Memphis. At the height of the outage, more than 20,000 Memphis Light, Gas, and Water (MLGW) customers were left without electricity.
MLGW was swift in addressing the situation, with the first 6,000 customers seeing a restoration of electricity within merely 45 minutes, as detailed by WREG in their coverage. The following batch of 6,000 had their lights back on after an additional hour and 15 minutes. Still working through the night, MLGW committed to "continue working until power is restored to every customer."
On the technical side, MLGW pinpointed the issue of multiple circuit breakers tripping at three different substations. Though the majority of power was reinstated within two and a half hours, as per Action News 5, some customers experienced further delays caused by a failed circuit breaker. The utility provider's infrastructure has been known for facing chronic difficulties, and recently, to address these concerns, the City of Memphis approved a hefty $1.3 billion budget for MLGW.
As the chill of the 25-degree Fahrenheit night bit, MLGW labored tirelessly to bring back warmth and light to their customers. "We apologize for the inconvenience to our customers who are experiencing this latest power outage," MLGW stated, as reported by FOX13. An emergency warming center, hosted at the Hospitality Hub, remained open to those in need, proving essential on such a frigid evening.
