Much of East Oak Ridge went dark Thursday evening after a large outage cut power across the area, leaving everything from living rooms to traffic lights offline. Oak Ridge Electric crews traced the problem to damaged equipment near Illinois Avenue and Scarboro Road, and officials warned that getting everyone fully back online could take several hours.
In a post on the City of Oak Ridge Government's Facebook page, Oak Ridge Electric said crews had isolated the fault and were on site dealing with the damage, with many customers either completely out or seeing only partial service, according to City of Oak Ridge Government. The city's live outage map is available at oakridgetn.gov/outages, and the utility is asking customers to help pinpoint remaining trouble spots by calling or texting 833-628-3400 to report outages.
"Treat any blinking or off traffic lights like a 4-way stop," the city reminded drivers on Facebook, as multiple signals along Oak Ridge Turnpike went dark while crews worked to restore service. Motorists were urged to slow down, follow any temporary controls in place and brace for delays through the affected corridors, especially on the east side where the blackout hit hardest.
Outage Tools And Recent Patterns
The city's public outage portal and text alerts, powered by the Hometown Grid platform, have become central tools for coordinating repairs, and local coverage has highlighted how often residents have relied on the system during earlier summer outages, according to reporting on fallen trees pulling down lines. Those July incidents, when downed trees yanked power lines out of place, underscored how quickly distribution equipment can fail and how real-time mapping helps crews decide where to roll first.
How To Report And Stay Safe
To report an outage or get automated updates as neighborhoods come back online, customers can call or text 833-628-3400 or sign up for text alerts by messaging OUTAGE to that number; the text service and public viewer post cluster updates as repairs move through the system, per the Hometown Grid outage portal. If anyone in your home relies on life-supporting medical equipment, the utility asks that you flag that for the dispatcher when you call or text so the situation can be logged and prioritized, according to the Oak Ridge Electric Department.
Crews say they will continue posting restoration updates as they work their way through the network, and residents are urged to keep an eye on the city's outage viewer and follow all temporary traffic controls until signals are fully back online. If you come across a downed line, officials stress that you should assume it is live, stay well back and report it immediately rather than trying to move it yourself.
