KILLEEN, Texas — After 6 News ran a story about seemingly random power outages affecting a Killeen neighborhood for months, residents said Oncor showed up to fix the problem the next day.
Last week, multiple neighbors told 6 News power went out several times on Pilgram Dr. with no bad weather in sight. When storms did come in, they said power issues were almost guaranteed.
6 News reporter Andrew Moore contacted Oncor multiple times Thursday and eventually received a call from Killeen area manager Karl Green.
Green said the outages could mostly be attributed to overgrown trees bumping into power lines.
"We've had a lot of storms and vegetation issues, and it's not anything uncommon," Green said.
Oncor said they would address the issue but did not provide a timeline for the resolution.
Local resident Alfredo Cruz said they were out by 7:30 a.m. the next day.
"After you guys came out, you talked to the neighbors right down the street, then the next day there were here," Cruz said.
Cruz had seen the transformer go out after being struck before. He said asked Oncor to come out and trim trees on the transformer next to his house for several weeks.
"Unless we got this transformer this was just going to continue to happen because you can literally sit here as they wind blows...and take bets on how long it's going to take for the thing to arc," Cruz said. "And it would arc and the power would go out."
Cruz said Oncor significantly cut back trees at that transformer and all the way down the block.
He said he is hopeful electricity will be more reliable in the future.
Oncor released the following statement about the area the next day:
"Vegetation management personnel completed tree trimming for the Pilgram Dr. block on Friday morning. I also met with these customers firsthand to discuss vegetation management efforts and to ensure electric reliability needs were being met.
It is possible for vegetation weakened or damaged by severe weather to impact power lines even after a storm has passed, which was the case for this area. We appreciate the patience and input of our customers on Pilgram Dr. and ask any customer experiencing power issues to please reach out to us at 888.313.4747."
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