LEWES, Del - The Lewes Board of Public works has reported at least four power outages over the past 48 hours.
On Monday, the Lewes BPW posted the first of these outages on their Facebook page at around 9 p.m., followed by a post about two hours later stating that the problem had been fixed.
Tuesday, the city is facing the same issue, with another power outage starting at around 8 p.m. Shortly after, Lewes BPW posted to their Facebook that the problem had once again been fixed.
Just before 10 p.m. Tuesday, Lewes BPW posted a third power outage, which has been restored as of 11 p.m.
The timing of these outages come at an unfortunate time, as Delmarva enters day three of a heat wave. Without power, many people in Lewes said they were left with no air conditioning.
John Bornman, who lives on Savannah Road, says it’s not just an inconvenience, it’s potentially dangerous.
“It’s scary if it happens, 3 in the morning. You’re sleeping. You may be okay, but the elderly, your children, your pets it’s not good for any of them,” Bornman told CoastTV.
Tom Panetta, President of the Lewes BPW Board, says this is part of a broader issue with the regional grid provider, not a direct result of the current heat wave. However, with temperatures still high, he urged residents to be cautious.
"In general at this time, with the heat wave, people should be conserving electricity because we don’t want the grid to go out," Panetta said.
In an update, Lewes BPW said that over the past 24 hours, their service area experienced several outages, each lasting about an hour. They apologized for the disruption and said power has now been fully restored. BPW says the outages appear to be related to a potential equipment issue, and a specialized contractor has been brought in to evaluate the system and identify any needed repairs.
While they work toward a permanent solution, BPW is asking customers to conserve energy to help reduce strain on the system and minimize the risk of further outages.
More information on these power outages can be found on Lewes BPW's Facebook page.
