Substation fire and explosion cuts power to thousands in Lubbock

In the early hours of the morning, an electrical fault occurred at the McDonald's substation on Milwaukee Avenue in west Lubbock, Texas, operated by Lubbock Power and Light (LP&L). Officials said something sparked a riser at 11th Place and the line overheated, causing an explosion and a fire, with arcing visible for several minutes. A transformer was also reported to have blown at 4th and Slide Avenue. Reporting put the number of customers without power at about 7,700, with the utility saying more than 7,000 were affected. Equipment both inside and outside the substation was damaged and the equipment used to identify faults malfunctioned. Traffic signals at several intersections went dark and police directed traffic, and two local school districts reported disruption, though schools expected to resume normal operations. LP&L crews remained on site through the day to restore supply and investigate.

The utility said the exact trigger for the spark in the riser was not known at the time, and suggested it could have been anything from an animal to a lightning strike in the preceding month that weakened the line. The utility also said the area was growing rapidly and that upgrades to the substation and lines on Milwaukee Avenue had already been planned in its capital budget.

1. Substation and feeder infrastructure in fast growing service areas should be prioritised for planned upgrades rather than reactive replacement after a failure.
2. Fault identification equipment within substations should itself be tested and monitored, since its failure hinders rapid diagnosis during an incident.
3. Utilities should hold contingency plans for loss of traffic signals and other dependent public services, and coordinate early with police and school districts when a major substation fails.

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