Transformer Fire Knocks Out Power Again in North Berkshire
 Crews were working around a damaged transformer at the Adams substation to restore power to some 18,000 customers. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A problem at the Adams substation has knocked out power across northern Berkshire County — again.
And again.
(We kept trying to update this story but the power kept going out!)
Power was lost around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and then came on again around 1:30 only to go back out a few minutes later.
National Grid spokesman Jake Navarro said the 18,700 customers who lost power Tuesday morning are in Adams, North Adams, Williamstown, Hancock, Florida, Cheshire and Clarksburg.
Nearly 600 customers across the state line in Stamford, Vt., were also out, according to Green Mountain Power.
By 3 p.m., the power appeared to be mostly restored in North Adams but areas of North Berkshire were still out, according National Grid's outage map. About 5,000 customers in Williamstown, 4,500 in Clarksburg and Florida, and 4,400 in the city's south end and Adams and Cheshire were still being restored. Stamford had power restored.
Both Williams College and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts were slowly bringing some of their buildings online.
Scanner reports indicated another blown transformer and crews were called to a substation near Mohawk Forest in North Adams.
Navarro said National Grid had attempted "several solutions that we believed would restore power (at about 1:30 and 2:30), but unfortunately they have only worked temporarily."
He said crews were continuing to work as quickly as possible at the substation to restore — and maintain — power.
Twice during the afternoon power flickered for a minutes before being lost again. After the second time, police determined to stay at the intersections where they had been directing traffic — and only minutes later they were back at work.
Walmart and a number of other stores were closed, as was Adams Town Hall.
An explosion at the station on May 9 knocked out power in those same towns for seven hours.
Tags: National Grid, power outage, transformer,
