From Monday, July 22 through Tuesday, Aug. 6, the Rimrock area faced 9 blackouts. APS confirmed that on 4 different dates, the power in the area shut off, all due to weather. On the 30th, the power went out four times between 3:57 and 9:17 pm, all due to lightning.
In a summer that has seen fewer monsoon storms than in some previous years, the power outages have been frustrating to some residents.
“I’m blown away at the electrical problems that we have,” Rimrock resident Donna Pollard- Burton said. “I understand monsoon storms can be really, really wicked, but a basic thunderstorm and our power goes out for an hour to two hours.”
According to APS, the power outages are not happening more often than usual. However, the outages are lasting longer this year, due to changes made to the power utility’s policies in 2018.
“The difference is that this year we have enhanced our fire mitigation efforts,” APS Spokesperson Jill Hanks said. “Obviously in that area there’s a lot of chaparral, vegetation and areas where there’s extreme fire danger. When there’s an outage, the system is designed to kind of correct itself. But rather than that electricity coming back on a minute later … we actually physically have eyes on the power line. So when that power goes out, we don’t automatically allow it to come back on. We send people out to physically patrol the line and see what’s going on and just make sure that there is nothing in the way that when we turn the power back on could potentially ignite something. Unfortunately, we totally understand that’s an inconvenience to customers.”
“We do it with people’s safety in mind,” Hanks added.
Hanks also indicated that APS has no plans for improving the system durability of the Rimrock area, and suggested that this kind of problem may be a problem that residents of that rural part of the county may just have to deal with.
“From a reliability standpoint, we have absolutely the infrastructure and the electricity on the grid that we need to serve the Rimrock area, and any growth that they would see,” Hanks said. “Unfortunately, we can be as prepared as we need to be and Mother Nature can throw some curveballs. When the wind is strong enough lines snap together. That lightning is not a friend to power lines.”
“It’s just an area that is just ripe for storms and is very prone to lightning strikes,” Hanks said.
Hanks advised residents to report outages or sign up for alerts at aps.com/outages, or to call customer care at (602) 371.7171 or 1-800-253- 9405. She recommended residents prepare kits in the case of prolonged outages with supplies such as flashlights, batteries, water and non- perishable food.
The lack of promised improvement from APS did not sit well with those who had complained before about the power outages.
“They’re not attending to the problem,” Pollard-Burton said. “We’re not a third-world country … it shouldn’t be so hard to keep the power on.”
“If they can’t keep the power on for the people who are here already, how are they going to bring 300 new units in the area?” Pollard-Burton said, referring to the planned Primrose development in the area. “There are many people who feel very marginalized.“
