I've mentioned before that my neighborhood has sections that are on Garland Power & Light and others that are on Oncor/TXU. One of my earliest surprises moving to Garland was the frequent power outages we experienced at our house but nearby homes would still have their lights working. It was awhile before I learned they were on GP&L, a separate power system. I assumed they experienced power outages that we didn't notice, but I was still envious, particularly on hot, summer nights. The Oncor/TXU system improved when a substation was built closer but there are still those times ….
 
Last evening was the first that I finally experienced the bulb being brighter in our house, so to speak. I received a call from a District 1 resident saying he was having troubles contacting GP&L to report an outage because he couldn't find the number. To help with such problems many of the numbers needed to contact the various city departments are on my website here and on the city's website here.
 
The outage was affecting a large enough area that the reporting number was swamped with calls. I spoke with GP&L Director Ray Schwertner, a District 1 resident, to ask if his lights were on. I could hear his weary smile through the phone. No, they weren't.
 
A feeder line to the N Garland Ave substation near Firewheel Golf Park had tripped and all service from the substation was temporarily out. It was suspected that high winds blowing trees onto the lines was the problem and crews were out looking for the source of the outage.
 
I remembered the comments I've heard several times lately about the drastic tree trimming that north Garland received earlier this year and is still very visible. In most cases, the trees have grown under the power lines, they weren't there when the lines were erected. They've gotten bigger and more mature over the intervening years. Every trimming seems more dramatic because the trees have grown bigger. The trimming is necessary to keep the trees out of the lines, to prevent what was suspected of happening last night.
 
I haven't heard if that was the actual problem but I did learn that the feeder to the substation was discovered tripped and that power was rerouted through other substations to most of the affected homes. For most customers the outage wasn't too extended but I'm sure it was inconvenient. I have plenty of memories to compare, even if I was spared this time.
 
Crews have been working to correct the problem, repair damage to the system, and to prevent a reoccurrence.
 
I've reported a number of times when the GP&L system had proved more reliable than the Oncor/TXU system, such as here. This was one of those times that the tree was on the other line. So to speak.