PSE&G: Power Restored In Newark After Transformer Fire, Some Still Affected
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- PSE&G says power has been restored to nearly everyone affected by a transformer fire on Saturday afternoon.
The underground transformer fire in downtown Newark caused widespread outages affecting hundreds of customers, including several prominent businesses.
PSE&G said at the height of the outage, service was out to approximately 1,500 customers as crews waited to inspect the damaged electrical facilities.
Service was disrupted at a residence hall at Rutgers University and NJIT. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center tweeted that Saturday night's Eric Johnson concert was also cancelled due to the outage.
"I was standing in front of the hotel and I just heard a loud explosion," Newark resident Scott Simpson said. "As I walked to the corner you could see the green smoke billowing up."
"Crews have restored all but five larger business customers affected by yesterday's underground cable failure in downtown Newark," PSE&G reported around 11 a.m. Sunday morning.
The Hahne's building and 15 Rector Street were still without power as of 6 p.m., PSE&G said.
The utility said the fire was caused by a cable failure, which is now under investigation.
