By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
RPS suffered a power outage that lasted several hours Monday afternoon as a result of a lightning strike near the Burro Canyon substation that damaged a lightning arrestor. Tri-state was not able to make repairs on the arrestor until Tuesday afternoon so Raton was switched over to power from Springer Electric Coop. Due to limitation on the power line, different circuits of Raton had to be brought up one at a time. It was also mentioned that if this outage lasted into Monday evening rolling blackouts could be required as the load for Raton would exceed the max capacity of the transmission line from Springer.
This reporter sat down with Raton Public Service Board President Kathy McQueary and General Manager Dan Dible to talk about RPS plans to reduce this situation again. The answers are not simple and will require some time to implement. Listen as McQueary and Dible discuss the issues.
