Power Outages, Smoking Transformers Reported as Heat Takes its Toll

Tuesday's triple-digit temperatures led to three smoking electrical transformers in Melrose all within a half-mile radius of each other.

Beginning at 6 p.m., the Melrose Fire Department responded to reports of smoking transformers on Gould Street, Clinton Road and Washington Street. Residents on Clinton Road and Washington Street who had ventured outside their homes to catch a glimpse of the smoking transformers atop the utility poles told Melrose Patch that they had power.

However, National Grid spokeswoman Amy Zorich said on Wednesday that two power outages were recorded. On Gould Street, approximately 30 customers were without power for two hours and 40 minutes beginning at 6 p.m., while on Washington Street, approximately 23 customers lost power for three hours beginning at 7:30 p.m. National Grid could not immediately respond on Tuesday afternoon to the smoking transformers in Melrose because of a deluge of power outages in surrounding communities.

The transformers on Gould Street and Clinton Road only smoked, but the transformer on Washington Street also leaked coolant. Zorich said both instances are atypical, as the transformers are designed to short out, which would ostensibly prevent them from smoking.

"What I'm being told by our guys here is that while (a smoking transformer) isn't something we expect to see or that we do see on any kind of a regular basis," she said, "it is entirely possible that it's the result of an overloaded transformer, with a lot of power flowing through the system — combined with yesterday's heat wave — that was causing it to smoke."

National Grid crews carry clean-up kits in case of transformer coolant leakage, Zorich said, in order to take care of those spills in "an environmentally-conscious way."

While the heat isn't expected to be as overwhelming the rest of the week as it was on Tuesday, high temperatures are expected to hover in the high 80s and humidity levels should remain high until Saturday, when showers and thunderstorms may roll into the area.

Zorich said that residents can take steps to decrease their electrical usage and mitigate the possibility of further power outages:

• Draw blinds, shades and drapes during the day — especially on south and west-facing windows — to prevent sunlight from heating the inside of a home.
• Turn off lights when they are not needed.
• Avoid cooking, showering or washing clothing during the hottest times of the day in order to avoid generating additional heat in the home, which can then lead residents to turn up their air conditioning to compensate.
• Lowering the temperature of a home's water heater, which is normally set at 120 degrees or less. Zorich said for every 10 degree decrease in water heater temperature, energy use is cut by 3-5 percent. Also, those on vacation or away from home for an extended period of time can lower the temperature setting on their home water heater even more.
• Check air conditioner filters and replace or clean them if they are clogged, resulting in more efficient air conditioning units and subsequently using less energy.