CEC restores power after SE Bend outage

(Update: All power restored overnight)

A major Central Electric Cooperative feeder line tripped off-line in southeast Bend Wednesday night, that triggered a large power outage. By midnight, about 70% of the 932 accounts originally affected were restored to service.

The outage began around 10 p.m. and there was no immediate word on how long it would take for power to be restored. Some residents said utility boxes on their street exploded. CEC crews narrowed down the location and worked on a fix overnight.

Deschutes County dispatchers said a transformer apparently blew in the area of SE Camelot Place and Lancelot Avenue. CEC said they had not been able to confirm if that played a role in the larger outage.

Central Electric Cooperative has posted information at its outage center and on its outage map page.

Some residents on Camelot Place said on KTVZ’s Facebook page that six transformer boxes exploded on their street and at least one power meter box on the exterior of a home, sparking a fire they had out before crews arrived. They also said residents were advised to turn off their breakers.

Shortly before midnight, the co-op reported crews had narrowed the location of the fault that triggered the outage and were making repairs to a section of underground power cable near Camelot Pace, west of 27th Street and Stevens Road. About 70 percent of the accounts had power back, but officials said it would likely be several hours before the rest were restored. The rest had their power back overnight.