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Grid infrastructureUnited StatesEIR-1257

Substation explosion cuts power to Easton customers

May 2025Published 25 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor

SignificantElectricalProvisional
Estimated damageEstimated by the register's adjusterHow? Know the real figure?
Figure hidden: shown to subscribersMedium confidence
supply cut for about •• daysShown in the record →Full estimate
From the recordRoot cause hiddenFailed part hidden
Where
Substation in Easton, United States
What
Substation failure left customers without electricity
Cause
Not reported
Outcome
Some city customers still without power at report time

Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): FirstEnergy, Met-Ed

What happened

More than 1,300 customers in South Easton lost power after an explosion at the electrical substation at Williams and Davis streets. Reporting said the outage began on the afternoon of 12 May 2025 after a cable failure. It produced a loud sound, an arc flash and fire, all confined to the substation property. FirstEnergy Corp.'s Met-Ed confirmed the failure and sent crews to restore supply. Firefighters attended and extinguished the flames. No injuries were reported. The following morning, about 10.5 per cent of the city's Met-Ed customers were still without power, and some traffic signals were not operating.

Contributing factors

Met-Ed attributed the outage to a cable failure at the substation. No further cause was reported.

Lessons learned

  1. A cable failure inside a substation can produce arc flash, a loud bang and fire even when the event stays on the site.
  2. After a local outage, operators should expect dark traffic signals and coordinate temporary controls with the city.
  3. Neighbour and police reports of noise and flame can help crews confirm that a fire is confined to substation property.

More lessons on worker safety and safe systems of work, outages, backup supply and restoration, emergency response and public communication, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

  • Number of customers affected
  • Cause of the substation failure
  • Damage to equipment
  • Duration of the supply loss

This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.

Source

lehighvalleylive.com

Published 2026-09-25. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.

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