Thousands of Utah families went without power during triple-digit heat wave

MILLCREEK — Thousands of families in Millcreek spent one of the hottest days of the year with no power.

"I was down in my basement, and I heard a boom," said Margie Larson. Her neighbor, Paige Harmon heard it too. "We just heard the big boom and the surge of all the power going off," Harmon said.

At first, Harmon thought her mom's blow dryer tripped the breaker in their house. They soon realized they weren't the only ones without power. In fact, at the peak of the outage, more than 4,500 homes in Millcreek were in the dark.

Jona Whitesides, spokesman for Rocky Mountain Power, said the company still isn't sure what happened at the substation near 3900 South just west of Interstate 215.

Their main goal was to get power back on. They were able to get the final customers back on around 6 p.m.

Whitesides said there are a few ways to help minimize outages, including setting the thermostat to 78 degrees and only using large energy-sucking appliances at night. That includes things like washers, dryers, dishwashers and ovens.

Harmon said she would be willing to bump her thermostat to 78 degrees — she generally keeps it at 74 during the summer. She said she wants to avoid another day like this. Same with the Harmons, who say if the power would have stayed out, it would have been a pretty uncomfortable night.

Whitesides said there will still be outages throughout the summer. But if everyone made a little bigger effort, it would minimize the toll on the power grid. He also said to keep your customer information up to date. That way, if there is an outage where you live, you'll get notifications via text or email.

To check information on outages or to report an outage, click here.

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