Situation update #11 on fire at Station A
—Power restored to all downtown customers following fire —
At 7:25 this morning, Friday, December 17, SMUD technical experts and crews successfully restored power to all impacted customers following a severe fire that damaged equipment at downtown Substation A.
Working around the clock since Tuesday, crews developed and implemented an innovative solution for Station A, which serves most of downtown Sacramento. While two of the networks were brought online Wednesday morning, the remaining network (Network 2) was heavily damaged and required additional repairs to restore power to 550 customers.
Crews worked through the night Thursday and early Friday morning to restore power to the remaining customers.
The final steps to restore all customers required a planned power outage for customers on Network 3, impacting 66 residential customers and 112 commercial customers. SMUD directly contacted customers to inform them that the planned outage would begin at 1 a.m.
The Station A fire impacted the outdoor, external equipment and infrastructure only, and not the historic building immediately adjacent to the infrastructure. The historic building is mostly empty and holds only control circuits and panels. The cause of the fire is still unknown.
SMUD appreciates our customers’ patience as we made repairs and restored power and sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience. SMUD also thanks all of our partners in addressing this emergency and for coming together to address customer needs during the outage. We worked collaboratively since Tuesday to provide food, hotel, transportation, relocation services, blankets, phone chargers, water, generators and translation services.
Now that power is restored, SMUD will assist customers in need as they return to their homes.
Further updates will be provided as needed.
