News

Faulty Greenport transformer might be causing power outages

A power outage that started Sunday at two units at the Driftwood Cove co—op in Greenport  and continued into the week may be only the latest in a series of problems caused by an overloaded transformer, Greenport utilities director Jack Naylor said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
The transformer in the Driftwood Cove building on Ninth Street at Route 25 may be undersized for today’s power needs, Mr. Naylor said. It was installed in the 1970s when fewer people had air conditioning, he said.
On top of that, “It looks like it wasn’t installed correctly,” he added.
In trying to determine why the transformer blew on Sunday, Mr. Naylor said he’s wondering if it might be the weak link in the village’s power system that has resulted in other brief outages since late summer.
The building where the problem occurred has six units, but only two are occupied this season, Mr. Naylor said.
Because it was a Columbus day weekend, the utilities director said he had been unable to obtain a replacement for the bad transformer. “I’m calling all over Long Island to get a transformer,” he said Tuesday.
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