The City of Bridgeport will have a scheduled power outage on Sunday afternoon, October 25th, beginning at 2 p.m. It is expected that the power outage should last no longer than two hours.

Routine maintenance needs to be completed on the substation and the city’s electrical system, and the City of Bridgeport will be running off of a back-up power system for several days.

“In order for crews to safely perform maintenance on the substation, we must power it down,” City Administrator Bill Boyer said. “Our options were to take a short outage while hooking up to a back-up power source, or take an outage for a half of a day. We felt this was a no-brainer.”

All electrical customers of the City of Bridgeport will be affected by the outage. A second outage will occur in a couple of weeks when crews reconnect the City to the main electrical feed. Customers will be notified when that outage is scheduled.

“We know that this is a big inconvenience for our customers,” Boyer said. “However, making these repairs now will make our electrical system more stable in the future.”

The outage should begin around 2 p.m., and should be completed in a couple of hours.

“We hope to begin around 2 p.m., and have back on in a couple of hours,” Boyer said. “However, there are always things that could go wrong, and take longer. We hope that won’t be the case, and this will be a relatively smooth process.”

Residents will be kept up to date on the power outage through the City’s “Vital Call” automated phone system. Phone calls will be made to all residents who have their information on file with the City office. All electric customers are encouraged to update their contact information by calling the city office at (308) 262-1623 or going online to www.cityofbport.com before the power outage.

Boyer added that the work on the substation, owned by Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), is being done by WAPA crews.

“This work is not being done by City of Bridgeport employees,” Boyer said. “However, we would like to thank WAPA for all of their help and flexibility in performing this maintenance.”

There are a few things that customers can do to minimize the effects of the power outage at their home or business:

· Turn off and unplug all expensive electronic devices, such as computers, TVs, stereos, etc., before the power outage occurs, and wait about ten minutes after the power comes back on before turning on these devices.

· Shut off all large-motor appliances, like air conditioners, ovens, stoves, etc., before the power outage, and wait about five minutes after the power returns before using these appliances.

· Leave refrigerator and freezer doors closed for the duration of the power outage.

· If you need money or gas, go the ATM or gas station before the power outage begins.

· Locate candles and flashlights, along with extra batteries, and make sure your cell phone is charged before the power is turned off.