An electrical pole near Old State Route 52 in New Richmond broke on June 19 and caused local electrical outages.

Duke Energy Ohio & Kentucky Corporate Communications Representative Sally Thelen explained that

a pole near 1041 Old US 52 failed at about 6:20 p.m on June 19. She said that the pole also had a transformer on it, causing an oil spill that was cleaned up by Duke Energy’s environmental cleanup contractors.

“The pole appears to have just weakened to the point where it broke,” Thelen said in an email with The Clermont Sun, adding, “It’s believed that last Monday’s [June 14] storm event here in our service territory may have been a precursor to weakening this pole’s structural integrity, but no way to be certain on that. Regardless, the pole broke causing an outage.”

When crews from Duke Energy arrived on site, they further isolated the trouble area and the number of customers affected by this event, Thelen said. By 7:10 p.m. crews reduced the outage to isolate it to 79 customers out of the original 945 customers out.

Thelen said the remaining 79 customers’ electricity was out for the duration of the repairs, which crews worked on throughout the night. They completed the installation of the new pole and transformer, and power was restored at 3:40 a.m. on June 20.

One nearby business that was affected by the downed pole was Rivertown IGA. Owner Lance Sizemore said that the power outage, and loss of refrigeration, caused nearly all of the store’s refrigerated and frozen food to spoil.

On June 20, Sizemore said that his staff was in the process of removing the food from the cases and disposing of it.

The store was set to reopen on June 21.

Sizemore said that supply trucks that were already en route and additional orders that he placed to replace the food that was lost were on their way. He expected the store to be fully restocked by June 23.

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