Work by Puget Sound Energy to connect the new Maxwelton substation to an existing transmission power grid on Wednesday, which caused a 12-hour blackout for some residents on South Whidbey went without a hitch, Project Manager Jim Kearnes said.

“It went smoothly,” Kearnes said.

Puget Sound Energy workers could be spotted connecting the transmission lines along Coles Road Wednesday morning, where the road was open only to local access. Craw Road was also closed during the 12-hour window. The blackout was necessary due to Langley’s transmission line being de-energized to prevent overloading the electrical distribution system.

With the new connection made, Langley’s substation is now less exposed to outages caused by tree falls or other failures, Kearnes said. Prior to the connection, roughly 17 miles spanning from Brooks Hill Road to Greenbank were exposed to failure. Now, less than three miles are exposed.

“This is all coming together at the end game of a program of multiple improvements that have been in progress since about 2008 to improve reliability of transmission lines to South Whidbey,” Kearnes said.

Though the new connection significantly reduces outages, the project is not yet complete. Kearnes said the next phase of the project begins this year and will include lowering the voltage distribution coming out of the Maxwelton substation by placing transmission lines underground near Craw Road, which will also further reduce outages due to tree fall and other failures. Another project will be converting a single phase feeder that runs south on Maxwelton and French Roads with an existing system in Langley. That will increase the capacity of the circuit so all of Langley is powered out of the Maxwelton substation. The end result is outages that are momentary, as opposed to hours long, Kearnes said.