Equipment failure likely caused power loss in south Columbia

Power has been restored to more than 600 people in south Columbia following Sunday night’s outage.

Connie Kacprowicz, spokeswoman for Columbia Water and Light, says a mechanical failure caused the outage. Specifically, a lightning arrester malfunctioned, leading to a loss of power. Lightning arresters are designed to protect electrical distribution systems from the effects of a lightning strike.

According to Kacprowicz, staff suspects a lightning strike weakened the arrester. It apparently did what it was designed to do during the strike, since there was no power outage at that time. The failed arrester, which was in the area of Rock Bridge High School, has been replaced with a new one.

At one point, the Columbia Water & Light outage map showed 696 customers with no power. There were 16 total outages in the area.

Providence, Grindstone, Nifong & Green Meadows were the main intersections without power. Columbia police went to the area to help direct traffic; at least one crash was reported during the outage.