(WJW) — Thousands of power outages across Northeast Ohio have been restored Tuesday night.
Earlier in the evening, FirstEnergy reported tens of thousands of outages across the state (more than 35,000 at one point), almost entirely in Cuyahoga County.
Thousands of customers in Lakewood, Cleveland, North Olmsted, Fairview Park, Rocky River and Westlake were affected.
By 11 p.m. Tuesday night, most of those outages have been restored.
“We understand how frustrating it is for customers to experience another outage, especially after power had been restored from an earlier interruption in the area,” a FirstEnergy spokesperson said, in part. “After service was restored, equipment at a local substation automatically shut down as designed to protect critical electric system infrastructure from damage. The shutdown resulted in a larger outage affecting customers on the west side of Cleveland. Since then, crews have restored power to all affected customers.”
Rocky River officials in an official notice announced the Rocky River Civic Center and Memorial Hall, 21016 Hilliard Blvd., would stay open as a cooling and charging center until 9 p.m. on Tuesday.
Cleveland Public Power outages
As of 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Cleveland Public Power reported hundreds of power outages across Wards 5, 6 and 8.
Just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the utility reported 1,541 outages across Wards 4 and 11. Previous outages in Wards 7 and 14 were resolved before 5 p.m.
Earlier in the day
More than 7,000 power outages across Ohio reported earlier by FirstEnergy on Tuesday afternoon were resolved before 5 p.m. that day.
The number included, at most, 7,031 power outages in Cuyahoga County: 5,892 in Lakewood and 1,010 in Rocky River, according to the utility’s outages map.
The outages affected about one-fifth of all the FirstEnergy customers in Lakewood and one-tenth of customers in Rocky River.
“We are aware of a significant power outage impacting the northwest corner of the city,” reads a Tuesday afternoon statement from city officials. “We have been in contact with FirstEnergy and are awaiting more information regarding the cause of the outage and estimated restoration times. As this is a developing situation, we will share updates as they are confirmed.”
Cove Community Center, 12525 Lake Ave., was expected to stay open until 7 p.m. to operate as a cooling center.
FirstEnergy customers in Lakewood were initially told to expect power to be restored by 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the utility’s website. It was supposed to be back by 5 p.m. in Rocky River.
Lakewood officials recently lodged an official complaint over recurring outages in the city with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, saying last year’s outages were caused by “equipment or line failure.”
City officials want the state’s utility regulators to force FirstEnergy to fix their infrastructure and equipment and level financial penalties against the utility.
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City officials on Tuesday encouraged residents to speak out for change:
Resident voices are also absolutely integral to raising awareness with regulating bodies. Formal complaints help hold FirstEnergy accountable for the significant impacts their failing infrastructure is having on our community. If you are experiencing an outage, we highly recommend that you take these two active steps:
File a Complaint with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO):— File online here— Call 1-800-686-7826
Log Your Outage Directly with FirstEnergy:— Text OUT to 544487— Call 1-888-544-4877— Report online here
Earlier in the month, FirstEnergy customers lost power for days during a brutal heat wave.