Power begins to return in Tucumcari

Xcel work crews began restoring power in Tucumcari in phases about 2 p.m. today using a big generator in the city, and a spokesman said all homes in the city should have electricity within two hours or so.

Xcel workers from Amarillo began to arrive at the Quay County Generating Station in north Tucumcari about 1 a.m. today – about six hours after a severe storm south of Grady knocked out power to the city.

Company spokesman Wes Reeves said workers anticipated being able to turn on the generator shortly after arrival but ran into issues.

Once the main line from Clovis to Tucumcari is repaired possibly by Monday morning and the generating station is shut down, Reeves said Xcel will access the problems getting the generator up and operating.

“We want to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” he said.

He said the generating station mainly is used periodically when the Southwest Power Pool grid needs more electricity.

Reeves said returning power to Tucumcari is a 12-step plan that requires about two hours. The first report of residents having power again was about 2 p.m. -- about 19 hours after the grid went down in Tucumcari.

The outage on Wednesday night made Tucumcari commerce grind to a standstill, with restaurants, gas stations and other businesses closed because they could not conduct transactions.

Reeves said the storm 17 miles north-northwest of Clovis – about in the same area where a tornado warning was issued – destroyed 20 H-shaped structures that carried the main electrical line from Clovis to Tucumcari.

At its peak, the outage affected more than 3,800 customers in the Tucumcari area, including San Jon and Conchas Lake.

Flooding in the afflicted area also hampered workers’ attempts to make repairs.

Reeves said the Quay County Generating Station will have enough fuel on hand to continue operating through the weekend.

“If we run out, we can get more,” he said.