Outages During Tazewell Substation Upgrades

Powell Valley Electric Cooperative (PVEC), in coordination with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), is currently performing scheduled maintenance and system upgrades at their shared Tazewell Substation. As part of this work, the TVA transmission line that normally serves the substation was temporarily taken out of service, and the substation was fed through a temporary, backup transmission line.

On the morning of Monday, April 6, that backup transmission line was de-energized due to equipment failure, and some PVEC members were without power. PVEC crews quickly identified the source of the problem and worked together with TVA personnel to restore service by reconnecting one of the TVA transmission lines to the Tazewell Substation.

Monday’s outage was an unforeseen circumstance originating outside of PVEC and TVA distribution systems.

Additionally, on Thursday, PVEC experienced a separate issue at the same location involving the alternate power supply. To restore service, crews again temporarily energized the TVA transmission line that was under maintenance. The duration of Thursday’s outage was less than one hour.

The upgrades being performed at the Tazewell Substation are necessary enhancements to support growth while ensuring continued system reliability and resilience.

PVEC remains committed to serving our members with the highest level of reliability and care.

“We understand how disruptive any outage can be for our members, and we take these events very seriously. Although this incident occurred on a transmission system outside of PVEC’s control, our team responded immediately to restore service as quickly and safely as possible. We remain committed to delivering the reliable power our communities depend on every day.” — Brad Coppock, PVEC General Manager