VERO BEACH — A failed electric bushing is to blame for a power outage Sunday that left 2,000 customers in the dark for more than two hours, according to Vero Beach electric officials.The failure triggered the 60,000-volt breaker to also fail. But what caused the failure remains unknown, according to Randall McCamish, the utilty’s director of trasmission and distribution.”It’s all burned up,” he said of the bushing and breaker. “There’s nothing left to look at.” The power outage occurred at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Power was restored at 1:45 p.m., McCamish said.McCamish added that their only clue as to what caused the outage was that the bushing flashed “like something flew into it.”Bushings are electrical components that insulate high voltage conductors that pass through a metal enclosure.McCamish said the department routinely inspects the substations every month and that this particular bushing did not give any indication of potential failure.The affected area included customers between Kings Highway and 43rd Avenue and between 12th Street and State Road 60. Shopping centers west of 43rd Avenue in the county, too, were impacted as they are on city electric and not Florida Power and Light.
