Jan. 24, 2003 – A power outage at about 7 p.m. on Friday left thousands of St. Thomas households in the dark for slightly more than an hour.
Unit 15 was tripped, due to a faulty sensing line, causing Feeders 6, 7 and 10 to go down, according to Glenn Rothgeb, Water and Power Authority assistant executive director.
The sensing line gave a false signal indicating low fuel to the unit. Ironically, Rothgeb said, "the sensing line was due to be replaced tonight -– at one o'clock in the morning."
The affected feeders provide power for the West End and North Side of the island and Frenchtown.
Rothgeb added that it was not a surprise that the feeders went out, because two other units currently are not functioning. Unit 18 is out of service for routine maintenance, he said, and Unit 22 also is down.
"That one has never worked properly," he said of Unit 22.
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