Power outage sparks concern

The lights at Lenny Landau’s home began to flicker just before 5 p.m. July 7, before he and his wife, Susan, lost power altogether.

He thought it would be back on by the time they got home from dinner around 9 p.m. But the power didn’t come back on until 1:38 a.m.

“I was shocked,” Landau said. “We’ve never been without power for that long.”

He wasn’t the only one who was frustrated.

Longboat Key Mayor Jack Duncan also lost power at his south end condominium from 5 p.m. until 3 a.m.

“I couldn’t believe how long it was out,” Duncan said.

Altogether, 3,500 Longboat Key homes lost power that night for varying levels of time from the 5500 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive to the community of Bay Isles near the 2100 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Some lost power for a few hours, while others were in the dark for up to 10 hours.

The main culprit for those 10-hour outages was an underground powerline in the 2100 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive that fizzled out and needed replaced.

The outage was a firsthand lesson for Longboaters on one disadvantage of underground utilities.

“When a power line goes out above ground, it’s easy to locate the part of the line that needs replaced or find the issue,” said Florida Power & Light Co. spokesman Bill Orlove. “But when a line goes out underground, it takes longer to determine where the problem is coming from, to dig up the problem and repair it.”

While Longboaters were without power, FPL crews were working to dig up and locate the bad line and replace it.

“Crews worked throughout the night to make the necessary repairs,” Orlove said.

FPL crews dug several holes, including some along Harbourside Drive across from the entrance to the Harbourside Golf Course.

The underground wire wasn’t the only factor that led to the outgage. 

Two above-ground switch cabinets, which sit in metal boxes above ground and transfer power to side streets and neighborhoods, malfunctioned. One of them smoked, prompting Longboat Key firefighter/paramedics and police to respond at 5:06 p.m. and monitor the smoking piece of metal in the 2100 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive until FPL arrived.

“But our biggest issue was determining which part of a buried power line that feeds neighborhoods (on the southern part of the Key) needed replaced,” Orlove said. “It takes time to dig up a new wire and replace it.”

It’s not the only con that comes with burying the island’s power lines, which supporters say would improve overall service reliability and the island’s aesthetics.

A severe weather event, such as a hurricane, could leave the island without power for a longer amount of time.

“The island is susceptible to flooding after a severe storm, and crews can’t restore power until water recedes, so it delays the time it takes to restore power,” Orlove said. “Water and electricity don’t mix.”

Landau said the power outage should be something Longboaters consider before they decide whether to approve a Gulf of Mexico Drive undergrounding project.

In November, the town’s electorate will vote on a $25.5 million project to bury power lines and other overhead utilities on Gulf of Mexico Drive. If voters approve it, a second referendum will follow in March for a $20.5 million project to bury utilities Keywide — but only those property owners who don’t currently have underground utilities will cast a ballot for the second project.

“For people who live here year-round in the summer months, power outages that last this long are a real concern,” Landau said. “The cons of underground service are real. This may be wrong for this island.”

But Country Club Shores resident Bob Gault says the pros of undergrounding power lines far outweigh the cons.

“For every underground power line that goes out, you will have 10 other outages from trees knocking down poles or wires,” Gault said. “The risk is so much greater for above ground utilities.”