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Council presses Berkeley Electric after outage; staff describe 'back feeding' restoration
Summary
After a multi‑hour outage that affected about 1,000 properties, town officials described how Berkeley Electric restored power by 'back feeding' circuits and said they will ask the utility for a fuller lesson‑learned briefing at an upcoming Infrastructure & Public Works Committee meeting.
Council members and staff reviewed a power outage that affected roughly 1,000 properties and lasted in some locations several hours. The town administrator relayed Berkeley Electric’s account: a cable failure, likely worsened by cold weather and heavy load, caused the outage; crews restored service in sections by rerouting power through alternate circuits, a process Berkeley described as 'back feeding.'
The town administrator summarized Berkeley Electric’s explanation: crews reroute power through other operational circuits while repair crews address the underlying cable failure, then return to replace or repair the failed cable. Staff said Berkeley reported plans to begin replacement of at‑risk cables soon.
Council members asked for a deeper review at the Infrastructure & Public Works Committee and requested Berkeley Electric to explain lessons learned, the company’s monitoring and automation, and whether additional equipment or procedural changes will reduce recurrence. Residents also urged improved coordinated communications during outages; the town said opt‑in limits its direct outreach but will continue coordinating with island organizations.
Next steps: Infrastructure & Public Works Committee will invite Berkeley Electric to present operational details and proposed mitigations; staff will investigate systemic billing surge issues reported anecdotally by some homeowners.
