Powell was left without electricity across the city Tuesday afternoon, though city crews were able to restore power within about a half-hour.

The outage, which started around 1:40 p.m., was related to the June 29 fire at the city’s Vining Substation on North Ingalls Street. The fire damaged some equipment, and the parts needed to make full repairs have taken some time to order.

While the substation has been able to maintain power to the city since the fire, it’s not at full capacity yet. Residents’ thirst for air conditioning in the high temperatures this week have placed heavy demands on the injured 30-year-old substation.

Electrical Superintendent Steve Franck said the city was running on one transformer, which was kicked out due to overcurrent. In the heat of the afternoon, with the county fair in full swing, the city was pulling roughly 10 megavolt amps. The transformer is rated for 10.5 megavolt amps.

“After isolating everything and watching our currents, it became apparent we had to heat up the other transformer,” Franck said.

The city center and half of the south side of Powell is running on an unregulated transformer, meaning the voltage will not change as the loads change.

The good news is, while lead times on the parts needed to make full repairs were expected to be as high as 46 weeks, the city was able to secure a source that could deliver sooner. Franck said they’re now expecting the parts by the end of the week. Then the city just needs to schedule a construction crew to make the repairs. It may mean temporary, planned outages.

Franck said people could help the city out by holding off or limiting their use of air conditioning. However, with temperatures soaring to the mid-90s, Franck said he understands almost everyone in town will be using air conditioning in the late afternoon and evening.