Cause unknown for 7-hour power outage impacting 1,500 central El Paso residents

The cause was under investigation for a power outage that began Friday afternoon and lasted well into the night for approximately 1,500 residents in central El Paso near Bassett Place Mall, utility officials said.

The outage began just before 3 p.m. and was finally resolved over seven hours later. El Paso Electric said those impacted all had service restored as of 10:30 p.m., but the outage cause remained unknown.

Numerous residents called ABC-7 complaining about the situation throughout the evening — some expressing particular concerns about elderly relatives forced to endure the 90+ degree heat for hours without air conditioning.

The electric utility said its crews worked during that time to reroute power from other areas to restore service for those impacted in the area around Trowbridge Drive and Montana Avenue, where the company’s map had showed the outage was centered.

El Paso police also reported that traffic lights in the area were dark due during the outage period, causing scattered traffic problems for motorists.