This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Plumes of black smoke coming out of two refineries in south Davis County on Friday were caused by a power outage.
Dispatchers in Bountiful said that the smoke coming out of the Holly Refinery in Woods Cross and the Flying J Refinery in North Salt Lake were a precautionary measure. The refineries had to run on backup generators after the outage, causing them to have to burn off some material. No emergency responders were dispatched to the refineries.
Rocky Mountain Power spokesman David Eskelsen said the outage started at about 6 p.m. It was caused by blown fuses at a Woods Cross substation at 550 S. 800 West. Power was restored at 8 p.m. What caused the fuses to blow wasn't known Friday night. While power was out temporarily at the Flying J and Holly refineries, the disturbance also affected the nearby Chevron and Silver Eagle refineries, although Eskelsen said the power did not go out at those places.
Eskelsen said that homes in the area didn't seem to be affected.
"Customers may have seen the lights blink or dim," he said.
Kimball Bennion