Substation fire in Utjeha leaves entire village without power
Sept 2026Published 7 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
- Where
- Substation in Utjeha, Bar, Montenegro
- What
- Substation caught fire around midday
- Response
- Bar Protection and Rescue Service attended
- Cause
- Not reported
- Outcome
- Power cut to entire tourist settlement
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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Montenegrin Electricity Distribution System
What happened
A substation in the Bar settlement of Utjeha reportedly caught fire around midday, cutting power to the entire tourist settlement, according to a single local news report. The Bar Protection and Rescue Service attended and the fire was expected to be extinguished quickly. Residents said the settlement had already experienced two days of intermittent outages that week after a utility pole caught fire, prompting a protest at the offices of the Montenegrin Electricity Distribution System (CEDIS) in Bar.
Locals reported months of recurring problems including frequent outages, large voltage drops of around 140 volts, and loss of individual phases, which they say has damaged electrical equipment including three-phase water pumps. The outage occurred during the peak summer tourist season, affecting accommodation providers and other businesses in the area. No official cause has yet been confirmed.
Contributing factors
Residents and local reporting point to a history of unresolved grid reliability problems in the area, including a prior pole fire earlier the same week and recurring voltage drops, and reported delays or lack of response from the utility to repeated complaints. No formal cause of the substation fire itself has been given by authorities.
Lessons learned
- A substation fire can cut supply to a whole settlement, so operators should inspect poles and cables after repeated voltage faults.
- Recurring voltage drops and phase loss can damage pumps and other equipment, so the utility must respond to complaints before faults worsen.
- High summer demand in tourist areas raises fire risk in ageing grid assets, so maintenance must be completed before the peak season.
More lessons on electrical protection and isolation, maintenance, inspection and ageing assets, from every incident on the register.
Not yet known
- Cause of the substation fire
- Equipment model and age
- Duration of the power cut
- Cost of damage and lost supply
This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.
Source
Published 2026-09-07. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
