No Luck For Bright Area Bar During Planned Power Outage

One More Bar & Grille in Bright took a big financial hit when a planned power outage lasted hours longer than anticipated on St. Patrick's Day.

One More Bar & Grille in Bright was among the homes and businesses affected by a planned power outage on St. Patrick's Day. Photo courtesy of One More Bar & Grille.

(Bright, Ind.) - Some business owners in Bright and Logan Township are lamenting the timing of a planned power outage Sunday.

Hoosier Energy crews conducted the planned power outages Sunday afternoon so that a damaged utility pole could be replaced. The blackout happened between 3:00 and 6:00 p.m.

It was bad timing for bars hoping for big crowds during St. Patrick’s Day, FC Cincinnati’s home opener, and college basketball conference championships.

“St. Patty’s Day, when you’re packed, people stay. They want to stay and drink,” says One More Bar & Grille owner Regina Pennington.

Her bar had a full house Sunday afternoon. That is up until the lights -- and televisions -- went out.

“I told everybody to hang out a little bit and to see, but they wanted to watch the UC game,” Pennington said.

Southeastern Indiana REMC had sent an email Saturday night warning their customers in the area of the planned outage by Hoosier Energy.

Duke Energy made multiple phone calls to customers around midday, a few hours before the power was cut, but the phone message stated that the electric would only be off for about five minutes at a time at two separate intervals.

Pennington estimates the power outage cost her business at least $2,000 as basketball fans left sooner than anticipated.

“I don’t blame (the customers) either. I wanted to watch the game, too,” she says.

Pennington understands if the power outage had been an accident beyond the utility company’s control, but believes the planning for Sunday afternoon wasn’t well thought out.

Regina said she contacted Duke Energy to share her thoughts. She had not heard back as of Monday morning.