CHIMACUM — A failed insulator that caused a four-hour power outage for some 6,000 electrical customers Monday night has been replaced by a newer model that is more efficient, according to the Jefferson County Public Utility District.
The faulty 200-pound insulator was replaced by a smaller, lighter 40-pound model made of rubber instead of porcelain, said Jim Parker, PUD manager, on Tuesday.
The PUD has plenty of the new insulators on hand that can be used in case of a future failure, he said.
Electrical power failed at 8 p.m. and was restored at about midnight to Port Ludlow, Chimacum, Port Hadlock and Marrowstone Island, Parker said.
When the insulator — which is designed to keep transmission wires a safe distance from a power pole — failed, electricity arced to the pole and blew several fuses, Parker said.
The loud pop heard when the power failed was the sound of fuses exploding, Parker said.
Reports that the outage was caused by a truck striking the pole were erroneous, Parker said. It was not known Tuesday why the insulator failed.
The insulators are some 80 feet above the ground and hard to access, Parker said.
The failed component was “a bad insulator that has been up there for a while,” Parker said, and was part of the Puget Sound Energy (PSE) infrastructure purchased by the county PUD.
In 2008, voters granted the public agency — which already provided water and sewer service — the authority to offer electrical service to East Jefferson County residents, severing a relationship with PSE that spanned about 100 years.
In May 2010, Jefferson County PUD commissioners agreed to purchase PSE’s electrical system — including 19,000 meters — for $103 million.
The switch was made in April 2013.
The insulator is being inspected by PUD staff to determine if it was faulty or just worn out, Parker said.
Since the insulator was part of the original system purchase, it’s impossible to tell when it was installed, he said.
There are three insulators on every pole, he added.
“We are evaluating this to see if we need to be more proactive in replacing the insulators, whether this is something that will happen a lot or if it’s just a weird occurrence,” Parker said.
Replacing all the insulators is not an option, so the PUD will develop plans to more efficiently reroute power in the case of future failures, he said.
A system to reroute power is already in place in Port Townsend, where if one substation fails, another can be quickly switched to take up the slack, he said.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
