For a third day running, several hundred residents in South Baltimore were without power Wednesday, as Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. crews continued working to address heat-related failures to the city's power grid.
Issues first began to arise in Canton, Upper Fells Point and other neighborhoods around Patterson Park on Monday afternoon, during a sweltering start to the work week, and have continued — on and off — since, residents and BGE officials have said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, some residents had spent more than two dozen hours without air conditioning, as temperatures have reached into the 90s.
About 7 a.m. Wednesday, a failure occurred on an underground cable after a high energy demand coupled with the heat to overwhelm it, said Rachael Lighty, a BGE spokeswoman.
"The heat is what's really continuing to complicate the issues with the cables," she said.
Crews began to construct temporary overhead cables in the affected neighborhoods to alleviate demand on the underground cables through the rest of the week, which is expected to continue with similar temperatures as those seen in past days, Lighty said.
Residents whose power was out could also receive cold water and ice from BGE's mobile command center on Wednesday afternoon on East Pratt Street between South Wolfe and South Washington streets, she said.
Lighty said repairs to the cable that was disrupted Wednesday morning were expected Wednesday afternoon. By about 9 p.m. Wednesday, power had been restored to all but about 40 customers in the area, BGE's website said.
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