Large power outage caused by failed safety mechanism at Glen Canyon transmission substation

At approximately 5:10 p.m., on Tuesday, January 3, Garkane members experienced a widespread power outage affecting over 10,000 residents in Kane and Garfield Counties, and as far south as Coconino County in northern Arizona.

Garkane employees at work on the Glen Canyon substation. Photo submitted by Garkane.

As the sun and temperature dropped, Garkane crews searched quickly to find the cause. It appears the problem occurred at the Glen Canyon transmission substation where a safety mechanism failed, causing a fault in a Garkane substation which feeds Garkane’s southern system. Once the problem was located, substation crews were able to bypass the failed mechanism and begin restoring power.

Power was restored to Garfield County residents around 7 p.m., with Kanab and Kane County residents receiving power shortly after. Portions of the Kanab Creek Ranchos were restored around 9 p.m.

CEO Dan McClendon said, “We would like to thank our members for being patient as we diagnosed and fixed the problem. We noticed all the praise on social media thanking our lineman, substation and engineering crews for working in the cold to get it restored so quickly. I’ll add my praise and thank our crews and staff for their quick and safe response to the large outage.”