Limited outage coming to Fort Wayne as part of substation transfer

Transfer of service from a 1920s-era substation to a new facility will leave customers of Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) in Fort Wayne, Indiana, without electricity for up to three hours on Sunday, March 18.

The outage is necessary for the company to transfer energy between the two facilities, but will leave much of the downtown area without power beginning at 6 p.m. At the end of this outage, power will be provided by the Melita substation, which rests atop a vast array of new underground infrastructure two years in the making. That infrastructure includes replaced cables, re-rerouted line configuration, new underground vaults and monitoring devices. I&M officials said the transfer will allow them to better accommodate future growth.

At busier affected intersections, Fort Wayne police will be on site to direct traffic. Elsewhere, stop signs will be placed to make up for the out of commission lights. Building owners have been provided with information cards explaining the outage to their tenants. The date and time chosen were a compromise reached between I&M, city public safety officials and a review of event schedules for downtown and area churches.