Miamisburg merchants hope DP&L upgrades will eliminate outages

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By Kristin McAllister, Staff Writer Updated 7:58 AM Friday, July 2, 2010

MIAMISBURG — After losing an estimated $10,000 collectively due to a power outage Sunday, June 27, merchants in Miamisburg’s downtown are pleased to hear of Dayton Power and Light Co.’s planned upgrades to the system.

“It shut us down,” said John Foreman, owner of Bullwinkle’s Top Hat Bistro on North Main Street. “We lost a lot of business that night.”

Ron Holp, owner of Ron’s Pizza and Ribs on South Main Street, said he lost about $2,500 in business during the outage, and that another merchant told him he lost $5,000.

“It happens way too often,” Holp said.

While it may seem to happen often because of the hassles involved in a power outage, in actuality, DP&L records show only four outages in the Main Street area in the last two years.

The good news, said Leslie Sprigg, a company spokeswoman, is that DP&L has plans to upgrade the system for later this year and 2011.

She said plans this year include replacing electrical poles in the greater Miamisburg area, which will improve the system’s durability and help alleviate what caused Sunday’s outage.

That outage, she said, was caused when a dead tree fell on two high-voltage electric lines in an alley behind TJ Chumps, causing a 3- to 5-hour outage in some areas.

“We certainly recognize power outages are an inconvenience to all of our customers, residential and business customers, alike,” Sprigg said. “This is why we have crews on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Plans in 2011 include installing new transformers and improving higher-voltage power lines in areas along Main Street.

Foreman and Holp both expressed relief about DP&L’s plans to upgrade.

“Boy, that’s good news,” Holp said. “I’m really glad to hear that. We were hoping they would take care of it, because it’s so aggravating.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-9338 or kmcallister@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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