A power outage Tuesday - triggered by a problem at the same substation that caught fire in March, plunging the heart of the city into darkness - had thousands of residents and business owners in the Back Bay, South End, and Fenway scratching their heads in disbelief.
See: Boston Globe Blackout
While the latest blackout lasted under an hour, the brevity did little to appease those who suffered through the March madness and left many wondering why NStar’s problems recurred.
“I’m sure there was a thought in everyone’s mind that it’s happening
again,’’ said Pamela Ackers, a Back Bay resident who was shopping in
the Prudential Center when the landmark tower went dark just before
noon. “It was only two months ago. How is it possible that it happened
again? And will it be chalked up again as an unavoidable catastrophe?’’
“We are still awaiting a report that was due 60 days after the last incident,’’ Joyce said. “This is a major business district and impacted a large area of our city.’’
The outage Tuesday left 12,500 customers in the dark, according to NStar spokeswoman Caroline Pretyman, who said the cause was under investigation. She said no electrical components were damaged in the incident at the Scotia Street substation, allowing crews to restore power quickly.
Still, in parts of the city filled with restaurants, hotels, office towers, and students, even a brief return to the time before Thomas Edison had trickle-down effects.
Elevators become stuck, security systems can be compromised - banks were turning away customers even after power returned - and computer systems can take hours to reboot. The Apple Store on Boylston Street remained closed for more than 90 minutes after the power was restored; other businesses resorted to cash-only transactions.
All around the area were signs of a small but significant disruption....
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Related: Back Bay outage traced to faulty power supply unit
NStar faulted for second Back Bay blackout
