Underground transformer failure causes outage in downtown Minneapolis

What happened

In downtown Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Fire Department responded to reports of an explosion and smoke near Ninth Street and Hennepin Avenue. It said a transformer had likely exploded. Xcel Energy said an underground electrical transformer had failed, and its outage map showed work to restore power to 22 customers after supply went out at 4:34 p.m. Neighbouring buildings lost power. The fire department reported no damage and no injuries.

Contributing factors

The source identifies the failed equipment as an underground electrical transformer. It does not report why the transformer failed.

Lessons learned

1. An underground transformer fault can take supply from nearby buildings even when no fire damage is found.
2. After reports of explosion and smoke, fire service checks can establish whether a fault has caused damage or injury.
3. Stating how many customers are affected, and when supply went out, helps those without power understand the scale of the outage.

Source

kstp.com