Oct. 14--CHEYENNE -- Ice on power lines caused a major power outage Tuesday, leaving Cheyenne and surrounding areas without power for about 90 minutes.

About 36,000 of Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power's 40,000 customers were without electricity from 12:50 p.m. through about 2:15 p.m.

The outage included rural areas of Laramie County, as well as parts of western Nebraska and northern Colorado. Randy Wilkerson, public affairs specialist at the Western Area Power Administration, said he did not know the exact borders of the area affected.

WAPA feeds electricity to the Cheyenne substations that power the city.

"It looks like it was a weather-related issue at the Archer substation," Wilkerson said.

He added that ice build-up was the most likely cause.

Archer, located east of Cheyenne, is one of the substations from which Cheyenne gets its power, said Rob Morris, supervisor of energy services for Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power.

Problems at Archer dominoed into the power grid, making it impossible to re-route electricity into the city.

"This was beyond Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power's control," Morris said.

Crews from Cheyenne Light were dispatched to the Archer substation at the request of the Western Area Power Administration, and power was restored to the city shortly afterward.

Cheyenne Police Lt. Mark Munari said the department didn't experience any big problems during the outage.

"I think everybody remained pretty much in control," he said.

Laramie County Sheriff's Department spokesman Gerry Luce said that, like police department officers, deputies were sent to critical intersections to provide traffic direction.

Luce said deputies mainly were placed along South Greeley Highway.

Thanks to generators, Cheyenne Regional Medical Center still had power during the outage.

"All of our emergency power generators were operating as intended," said Kathy Baker, a hospital spokeswoman.

The generators have enough fuel to last three days.

"We were in good shape," she added.

Only elective surgeries were canceled on Tuesday.

The Laramie County Community College campus closed at 2 p.m. Tuesday, and night classes were canceled.

Students in Laramie County School District 1 were out of class due to teacher training.

Many city businesses remained open during the outage.

At the Safeway store at 2512 Pioneer Ave., a generator powered the checking stands, and an employee helped customers at the entrance because the power doors didn't work.

Employees also monitored temperatures of refrigerated foods, said Gene Hood, the meat manager.

At Bellanova Skin Care and Salon near downtown, the outage put a damper on hair appointments.

Stylists moved their clients to the kitchen so they would work by the light of the window, said makeup artist Kelly Anderson. And they lit candles in the windowless restroom.

"A couple of the girls had to go home with wet hair," she added.

Earlier in the day, Cheyenne Light experienced periodic outages due to the weather and ice on the lines. Crews continued to monitor the situation into the evening on Tuesday.

WTE reporters Michael Van Cassell, Jodi Rogstad and Becky Orr contributed to this report.

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