On Friday, Aug. 27, the hottest day of the summer, one Fargo neighborhood experienced an outage when a secondary line made contact with the neutral, causing the neutral conductor to eventually burn down.
We reviewed the site and have determined that it was constructed to our standards. Multiple factors may have contributed to this situation, including increased electric demand in the neighborhood due to the hot weather and winds in excess of 30 mph, which may have caused the two lines to make contact.
In a review of our customer records for these homes, we determined that prior to last Friday, our system had been operating normally and adequately meeting the electric needs of the neighborhood. From our initial review, it appears that this incident was our first indicator that some upgrades were needed in the area.
To improve the service to this neighborhood, we will be upgrading the conductor wire in this area, and we are evaluating whether any other actions need to be taken.
Customers have contacted us and indicated they experienced damages to electronics and appliances related to this event.
ADVERTISEMENT
Our regulations state we must pay damages if we are negligent in maintaining our system.
Based on our initial review, that is not the case in this situation.
We recommend customers contact their insurance company. Typically damages like this are covered under a homeowner's policy.
