A power outage near First Avenue left about 1,400 Tucson homes without electricity.
KVOA reported a power outage near First Avenue that left 1,400 Tucson homes without power.
What TEP Says It Does When the Lights Go Out
TEP maintains that responding to outages is a round-the-clock operation. “We're ready to respond to power outages around the clock. TEP has one priority when an outage occurs: getting the lights back on,” the utility says on its website. The utility also warns residents to steer clear of any downed lines they encounter. “Stay away from downed power lines. Never touch them. If you see a downed line or other damaged equipment, call 911 right away,” the utility advises.
For households that depend on electricity-powered medical equipment, the same TEP page notes that customers can sign up for the company's Medical Device Alert program, which keeps enrollees updated on service interruptions and estimated restoration times. The program is intended to give vulnerable residents advance notice rather than leaving them to guess how long an outage near their neighborhood might last.
A Strong Reliability Record, but No Guarantees
TEP has touted its broader reliability performance in recent reporting, saying customers experienced an average of just 42 minutes without power over the course of last year — a mark the company called a new record.
Tucson has seen comparable outages before. A 2014 vehicle collision with a power pole at East Fort Lowell Road and North Kelvin Boulevard knocked out electricity to 9,300 homes, according to tucson.com; in that case, power was restored to about 8,000 customers by 7:20 a.m., with fewer than 50 homes still dark by 10:30 a.m. In a separate incident, a storm-downed wire near Broadway and Pantano cut power to more than 1,100 customers on Tucson's Eastside, with the outage starting around 8:15 a.m. and power back for everyone just after 10 a.m., per KGUN9. A TEP spokesperson told that outlet that two such weather-related outages around that time were unrelated in terms of infrastructure, even though both were caused by weather. Another outage southeast of Tucson affected more than 1,500 customers in areas including Vail, Corona De Tucson and the Santa Rita Foothills, tucson.com reported separately.
