Thousands affected by Maricopa power outage

Updated 9:25 a.m., April 23, 2024. 

More than 33,000 Maricopans and western Pinal County residents went without power at the height of rush hour this morning, affecting not only power inside homes, businesses and schools, but also traffic signals.

The outage affected 33,708 residents in Maricopa, Hidden Valley, Mobile and the Ak-Chin Indian Community as of 8:30 a.m., as well as some Arizona Public Service customers in Casa Grande. An hour later, some residents started to see power return.

The outage began before 7 a.m. due to a transmission outage, according to Electrical District 3, the city’s power provider. Some residents reported losing power as early as 6 a.m.

While the utility company did not say when residents could see power restored, it issued a statement around 7:30 a.m. that APS dispatched a transmission crew to investigate. However, it would take “at least an hour for the team to be onsite.”

An update on the APS power outage map said power could return to their customers by 10:50 a.m.

Impacts across the city

Meanwhile, police officers directed traffic at major intersections around the city and Maricopa Police Department requested residents treat downed lights as a four-way stop. Some affected lights included Porter and Honeycutt Roads, Porter and Bowlin Roads and John Wayne Parkway and Edison Road.

The City of Maricopa announced it closed Copper Sky Recreation and Aquatic Center due to the outage, as well as the library and community center.

While the outage has affected schools within the Maricopa Unified School District, officials at 7:20 a.m. said classes would remain in session and students would be served breakfast.

Sequoia Pathway Academy announced at 7:30 a.m. it canceled its classes for the day, according to a social media post.

Central Arizona College also closed its Maricopa campus for the day due to the outage, according to a Facebook post.

This is a breaking story, check back for details.