Lightning storms cause major outage for thousands in Maricopa

Not all storms of passion result in a positive experience. The high winds and lightning that began during a late-night Valentine’s Day storm caused a major power outage affecting thousands of Maricopa residents well into the early morning hours Wednesday.

Lightning at a substation transformer began an outage at approximately 2:45 a.m. Wednesday, according to representatives from Electrical District No. 3, the city’s only electric service provider. The outage lasted for approximately two hours, with most residents waking to reset appliances and blinking digital clocks.

The power outage impacted more than 4,000 Maricopa residents living west of John Wayne Parkway, as well as some people living in the Ak-Chin Indian Community.

The last major outage occurred Jan. 12 due to a damaged underground cable. This impacted nearly 1,300 residents, according to the service provider.

Maricopa residents experiencing service disruption can visit the Electrical District No. 3 website for a map of current outages. Safety tips, such as shutting off electronics and appliances to avoid power surges, can be found on the provider’s website.