Power Outage: What Went Wrong

The downing of a power pole in a remote area was the reason greater Schroon and large sections of Pottersville were without power from approximately 4.20 pm to about 1 am today, Schroon Laker has learned.  

Officials at National Grid, do not know exactly how the pole  -- carrying a single line -- came down, but ruled out a vehicle crash.

"The pole was in a very remote location, far from any road," National Grid spokesman  Patrick Stella told Schroon Laker this afternoon. 

We asked how it was possible for a single power pole being down to impact so many.

"In remote areas, it's common." 

Stella said the long delay in getting power back on was because of the remote location of the pole.

"We had to get a tractor digger out there. It was in an off road area that was difficult to get to,  so our crews had to get there, and then make repairs so it took some time to complete."

Around 3,000 customers were impacted by the blackout.