Back-to-back outages ‘unacceptable’

Over the last six days, Magdalena substation Socorro Electric Co-op (SEC) members have experienced five power outages, leaving residents in the dark.

Manuel Gonzales, SEC CEO, said the high winds and red flag warnings are causing the Magdalena substation to go offline.

“We know right now that the red flag is the big contributor to it,” Gonzales said, “So now, instead of having three operations before it locks out, it’s only going to give you one because of the Red Flag Warning.”

Gonzales explained that, under normal conditions, it typically takes three shots for the lines to open as a protective measure. However, due to warm temperatures, dry conditions, and wind, there is an increased risk of fire danger, which has led to the issuance of Red Flag Warnings. He mentioned that the state of New Mexico has adopted a one-shot system as part of its wildlife mitigation and fire prevention measures.

“Instead of staying energized, those three other times where it catches a fire and kills somebody, it’s going open up immediately,” Gonzales said.

SEC has been working on the Magdalena 69kV project, which spans 28 miles between Socorro and Magdalena and involves replacing outdated infrastructure and installing fiber. Gonzales confirmed that the next scheduled power outage will be this Sunday.

“Sunday is going to be about a four-hour outage, and then right now, they’re planning the final, which we hope is going to be the final outage. That’s where a contractor will come and tie in the vital part of the lines. Then they’ll start the retirement part, which is cutting and removing all the old stuff,” Gonzales said.

He said the project’s goal is to eliminate outages and offer more safe and reliable service to the Magdalena substation.

He expects one more scheduled power outage to complete the project. In the meantime, he said the power outages are unacceptable.

“We find this unacceptable,” Gonzales said, “Our members are telling us about the challenges they’re having with remote working, the challenges they’re having with people on oxygen and that is dear to our heart.”

Those impacted by the Magdalena substation include the Village of Magdalena, Alamo Navajo Reservation, VLA, Dusty, Riley, Pinon Springs Ranch, Hop Canyon,

Hwy 60 West (Sedillo Hill to Magdalena), Hwy 107 (Magdalena to I-25), Highland Springs Ranch, Double H Ranch, Luera Peak and Beaver Head.