Sitkans who were awake early Friday when the city experienced a widespread electrical outage had to blow the candles out soon after they lit them. The electricity was off for a little less than half an hour on Friday morning. (KCAW/Rose)

Many Sitkans experienced a brief power outage shortly after midnight on Friday morning (4-30-21).

According to a city press release, power went out for many electric customers around 12:20 a.m. when a generator at Blue Lake unexpectedly shut down. The city Electric Department turned on another turbine and began restoring power to affected areas. Power was fully restored at 12:46 a.m. 

In an interview today, city spokesperson Melissa Henshaw said that an Electric Department crew examined the system, and discovered that a “protective device” sensed low oil pressure and triggered the generator shutdown. That system has now been fully restored.