Equipment failure at BGE substation causes power outage

An equipment failure at a Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. substation caused a momentary power outage in the Baltimore area last night, and an hourlong blackout in some neighborhoods.

The equipment failure - in machinery that measures electrical voltage - occurred shortly before 8 p.m. at a substation near Baltimore-Washington International Airport, said BGE spokesman Robert Gould. It was unclear last night what caused the failure.

The system automatically transferred power to other areas to bypass the trouble spot, Gould said. However, two power feeders had to be manually activated, a lag that resulted in the hourlong power outage. About 2,000 BGE customers were affected, most of them in Brooklyn and Ferndale, he said. Electricity was restored by 9 p.m., he said.