January 29, 2023
Friday evening at around 9:40pm a car struck and broke a utility pole on the near west side of Madison causing a power outage to 1,985 MG&E customers. Now some residents in the area area reporting thousands of dollars in damages to their kitchen appliances, computers, furnaces and water heaters—possibly caused by power surges.
To give you an idea of the damage, here are some anecdotal reports from neighbors in that area (Nextdoor). NBC15 also talked to several affected homeowners.
* “It sounded like an explosion and many things sparked. Too much of a surge for even my newly upgraded electrical box – we have at least 8k in damage/replacements.”
* “I did have 3 breakers trip as well. This surge was particularly intense… flashes and pops and bangs. Friends the area experienced this same thing.”
* “Our breakers tripped with each surge. A couple are still tripped and stay that way. We lost a dishwasher, washing machine and some small appliances.”
* “I lost our new fridge, dishwasher, a microwave and an amp/receiver.”
* “Our water softener and new furnace”
* “Furnace. Microwave, PC, Nest thermostat, chest freezer, six power strips…”
* “It blew out all the lights, the fridge, the furnace motherboard, and 4 small appliances, in addition to my pottery kiln.”
* “So far I’ve found my TV is blown out- it was on a power strip and my furnace won’t go on.”
* “We had a surge soon after the power went out. Tripped breakers in half the house, fried a couple of surge protectors, and the circuit board on our fridge.”
* “My furnace, a tv and a coffee maker.”
* “Clothes washer, dishwasher, coffeemaker, TV receiver and TV.”
* “Washing machine fried.”
* “My furnace, microwave, countertop oven, space heater, surge protector and remote control for a ceiling fan.”
* “I have no heat. Mother board burned through. Other issues with furnace frying.”
* “Unfortunately it is not just an issue of restoring power. The accident caused a power surge in our neighborhood that fried all major appliances including furnaces. Every house on the block has to replace their furnace control board and blower, not to mention fridge, dishwasher, etc. each effected house is looking at thousands of dollars in repairs and weekend emergency service calls.”
**Update 2/2/2023** Tens of thousands of dollars of damage has been done to residences on the near west side of Madison as a result of this outage, and questions are being asked about who is liable.