A series of winter storms brought power outages to Nome over the last week, as freezing rain, fog and high winds caused power lines to ice up and slap together, according to the Nome Joint Utility System (NJUS). No major damage was reported.
NJUS said last Wednesday, its City 1 Feeder lost power around 2 a.m. The circuit serves southern Nome and extends out to Beam Road, Dexter, Banner and the VOR station. Power was restored around 4 a.m.
A second major outage occurred Saturday night. NJUS Superintendent Thomas Simonsson said the utility tried restarting the entire power grid unsuccessfully, then moved on to a phased approach. An additional outage occurred overnight Sunday into Monday on the City 2 Feeder.
Simonsson said in each case, NJUS followed safety protocols before reenergizing the system, including line patrols and inspections for downed infrastructure.
“Before we start anything up we have to run around the system and make sure, visually, that no one is in harm's way, that nothing has fallen down,” Simonsson said.
Simonsson said NJUS expects and is prepared for outages caused by weather this time of year. He said crews try their best to do preventative maintenance, but that the utility has many miles of line to cover. He commended NJUS staff for responding overnight to the recent outages.
“We're trying to solve all of these outages as efficiently as we can on behalf of all of our customers. And same thing when we had a water outage, no one is sitting around twiddling their thumbs. People are on deck and working,” he said.
Simonsson said residents should send outage reports directly to the NJUS powerplant, rather than post to social media which is not actively monitored. The powerplant can be reached after-hours at (907) 443-6321.
Communities across the Norton Sound have experienced power issues due to severe winter weather this season. NJUS General Manager, John Handeland, reported at a Jan. 13 meeting of the Nome Common Council that the utility deployed a lineman to Unalakleet to repair a line that also serviced a critical fuel tank used by the community for heating and power.
