Equipment malfunctions are being blamed for power outages in Boyle and Lincoln counties early Tuesday morning through Wednesday morning.

“It’s hard to pinpoint when something like that happens,” said Dan Hitchcock of Inter-County Energy, which had 3,500 customers in Boyle and Lincoln counties without power from about 3:30 a.m. until about 5 a.m. Tuesday morning.

It was a fairly easy fix, he said.

Hitchcock said the cold temperatures could have played a part in the outage or it could simply be the age of the equipment.

“Equipment has to work harder in cold temperatures — whether it’s your heat or the transmission station. It puts a big strain on the system if everyone’s emergency heat is on at the same time,” Hitchcock said.

That’s why he said the utility companies will sometimes ask people to conserve electricity as much as possible when it’s extremely hot or extremely cold.

“Sometimes you just have equipment that malfunctions regardless, like going down the road and having a flat tire. Equipment like that can break down anytime as well,” Hitchcock said.

Three different outages hit customers of Kentucky Utilities within the 24-hour span. The first was fairly small: three customers in Danville experienced an outage from about 9:30 a.m. to noon on Tuesday.

Later that day, 212 customers in Junction City experienced an outage from about 8:57 p.m. to about 10 p.m. On Wednesday, three customers in Junction City had an outage from about 8:50 a.m. until about 11:52 a.m.

According to Natasha Collins, director of media relations for LG&E and Kentucky Utilities, the company’s three outages were also caused by an equipment issue.

“It’s tough to say what the specific issue was,” Collins said.

Sometimes, she said, cold temperatures come with heavy winds or heavy snow or ice. Those have the potential to push branches into lines, she said, causing problems.

TO REPORT AN OUTAGE:

For Inter-County Energy customers, call (866)224-2235. Visit http://12.109.106.69/omswebmap/OMSWebMap.htm?clientKey=undefined to view outages. Information regarding outages will also be posted on Inter-County Energy’s Facebook page.

For Kentucky Utilities customers, call (800)981-0600. Customers who have their mobile numbers linked to their accounts can also text OUTAGE to 4LGEKU (454358). Customers can also view and report outages at http://stormcenter.lge-ku.com/default.html.