COVINGTON, La. — According to Cleco, 17,000 people lost power on the Northshore when a fire broke out at a Covington substation Tuesday evening.
Cleco said the substation, located on Philip Drive off of Ronald Reagan Highway, caught fire around 7:20 p.m.
Cleco communication strategist, Fran Phoenix, said power was restored to all customers by 11:30 p.m.
“Substations play a vital role in the delivery of electricity to our customers. They help regulate voltage, lower voltage, make sure it’s safe to enter a customer’s home," Phoenix said.
Business owners directly across the street told Eyewitness News it sounded and felt like an explosion.
“We appreciate our customers' patience of course, and we thank the crews for working, you know, late into the night. We were going to work until we could all the customer’s power restored, and now it’s time to assess and get it repaired permanently," Phoenix said.
Crews were at the Ramsey substation Wednesday making repairs and investigating the cause of the fire.
Cleco said the cause of the fire is still unknown at this time.
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