Power Back After Substation Explosion Cut Power to 20,000 in South County
Electricity restored by midday after incident at National Grid site in Richmond.
A National Grid substation near Wood River Junction in Richmond cut power for two hours this morning to 20,000 customers accross South Kingstown, Hopkinton, Charlestown, Richmond, and Westerly.
No one was injured in the explosion that occurred today at 9:15 a.m., but the substation will be closed indefinitely until crews can identify the cause of the problem and make necessary repairs, said Charlotte McCormack, a National Grid spokeswoman.
"Right now we are not anticipating any further loss of power as we look into it," said McCormack.
Power lines for customers who depended on the failed substation have been diverted through other power grids.
Alarms were ringing all over town this morning, said Union Fire District Chief Robert Perry.
"We experienced a power surge which set off a number of alarms in town when generators burnt out," said Perry.
He said no buildings in South Kingstown were damaged.
Chuck Jacques
6:48 am on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The substation affected is located on Shumankanuc Hill Road in Charlestown.
Erin Tiernan
8:36 am on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
According to a spokeswoman from National Grid it was Wood River Junction, but I'll look into this.
Stephen Greenwell
11:48 am on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Speaking as a former Charlestown and Kings Factory Road resident, I believe you're both correct. The area in question, the boundary lines are somewhat blurred, since the bridge on Kings Factory Road is a rough border for Wood River Junction vs. Charlestown. So, Erin is correct in that it's "near" Wood River Junction, but all of Shumankanuc Hill Road is (I believe) in Charlestown.