Power outage temporarily paralyzes parts of the city of Biel

The outage was caused by a malfunction at the Mett substation around 6:40 a.m., according to Energie Service/Biel Bienne. This resulted in heavy smoke. The malfunction caused the lights to go out briefly throughout the city.

No one was injured, ESB further reported. Power was restored to most of the city by 8:30 a.m. In the Bözingenfeld area, the restoration took longer due to the fault at the Mett substation.

Operations at the Biel Hospital Center were not affected, a spokeswoman told local radio station Canal 3. The emergency power generator immediately took over the supply.

After the outage became known, the Canton of Bern announced that there was no danger. However, the public was advised not to use elevators and to turn off mains-powered devices.