Damage to TVA Lightning Arrester Causes 3 VEC Substations to Lose Power

On Wednesday afternoon, June 14, employees of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) were performing routine work in the East Cleveland Substation. As the work was being conducted, a member of the TVA crew opened an unloaded transfer switch. Although done properly, opening the switch caused an aged lighting arrester in the substation to fail. As a result of the damage to the arrester, power was lost to three VEC substations – the McDonald sub, the Tasso sub, and the Riceville sub. Each of these substations lost power around 2:06 pm. Power to the McDonald substation was rerouted from Ocoee Hydro, so power was restored there around 2:30 pm. Meanwhile, TVA worked to repair the damage to the lightning arrester, and power was eventually restored to the Tasso and Riceville subs, around 3:52 pm.