Lightning causes brief power outages

Lightning from a thunderstorm Tuesday, May 23, caused only very brief power outages in Marshall, according to Paul Jensen, general manager of Marshall Municipal Utilities.

The longest outage was at the city's water treatment plant, where power was out for about 20 minutes, Jensen said.

Otherwise, some customers experienced only a few little "blips" as circuit breakers responded to lightning or branches hitting power lines.

Jensen said the system is designed to trip breakers for less than a second when sensors detect a problem.

The utility has been making progress in reliability over the past five years, he said.

MMU was recognized in April for its reliability when it received a Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) award from the American Public Power Association, one of only three utilities in Missouri to receive the honor.