Xcel Energy Says Capitol Hill Power Outage Was Caused By Rare Event
DENVER (CBS4) - Xcel Energy says a power outage that affected 2,000 people Saturday night in Denver's Capitol Hill neighborhood was caused by a rare occurrence.
Xcel energy said the outage started underground, which is rare. Engineers haven't been able to determine the exact cause but say a spark underneath the road at 13th Avenue and Pennsylvania Street was enough to dislodge a manhole cover.
Witnesses told CBS4 the manhole cover was blown into the air.
"Giant blue flames about six or seven feet tall and the manhole cover lifted off," witness Chad Rockholt said.
An Xcel engineer said he hasn't seen such an incident in 30 years on the job.
The outage occurred just after 8:30 p.m. Power was restored at 10:30 p.m.
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