The Cokeville substation that caught fire. SVI PHOTO/AMY PECK

• 420 customers experienced a 20-hour outage

Cokeville was plunged into darkness in the early hours of Wednesday, June 16, when a power outage disrupted service to about 420 customers and set off an around-the-clock response from utility crews working to restore electricity.

According to Jonathan Whitesides, with Rocky Mountain Power, the outage began at 1:33 a.m., and power was restored by 9:23 p.m. the same day, meaning customers were without electricity for about 20 hours.

Whitesides said the outage was linked to a transformer failure at the substation, which also led to a substation fire. He said the incident caused significant damage to substation equipment, including damage severe enough that a permanent replacement substation will be required.

To restore service while permanent work is planned, Rocky Mountain Power brought in a mobile substation from Salt Lake City, which transitioned customers back into service. Whitesides said no injuries were reported; while the transformer failure sparked a fire, there were no injuries associated with the outage.

Whitesides said Rocky Mountain Power’s monitoring systems identified the outage and automatically notified dispatch and local operations, prompting crews to mobilize. Initial response included local line crews from Evanston, followed by additional crews from Utah to bring in equipment needed to address the substation damage.

He added that Rocky Mountain Power Emergency Management coordinated with Lincoln County Emergency Management to assess the situation and identify potential resource needs for customers dependent on electricity for access and other functional needs.

Officials said restoration was completed using mobile equipment, and crews also carried out permanent repairs as part of returning service and stabilizing operations.