Power company crews worked on the Zion Street substation in Cornelius around 3 o'clock Monday morning. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Updated 8:02 a.m.
Power went out in parts of Davidson and Cornelius for hours early Monday, after a transformer blew up at an electrical substation off Zion Avenue in downtown Cornelius. Power wasn’t expected to be restored in parts of Cornelius until 2 p.m., and school was canceled for the day at J.V. Washam and Cornelius elementary schools, and W.A. Hough High School. Lake Norman YMCA also was closed. Cornelius Town Hall remained open, but without power or telephone services.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools said essential personnel should report. CMS also said after-school programs are canceled and teachers should work from home.

Bailey Middle School, which is near Hough High on Bailey Road, is open today, CMS said. A spokeswoman said the two schools are served by different power companies.

With lights out, Cornelius Police direct traffic Monday morning at Catawba and U.S. 21.

Traffic lights were out as rush hour began in downtown Cornelius, and police were directing traffic at major intersections.

At one point, about 3,680 Duke Energy customers were affected, as well as an unknown number of other customers in Cornelius served by Electricities.

At 8 a.m., the Town of Cornelius issued an email and telephone alert:

Electricities have had a major problem in the main electrical substation on Zion Street. A transformer has failed and will need to be replaced. Electricites personnel are working on the problem and according to Electricites the power should be fully restored between noon and 2:00 PM. Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter.

Electricities workers were at the Zion Street substation repairing damage at 3 a.m., and said it may have affected other substations. A Duke Power spokesman later confirmed that the substation off Delburg Street in Davidson also was affected.

The Duke spokesman said “a transformer went bad” at the Zion Street substation because of a “transmission problem.” The problem in Cornelius then “took out the substation in Davidson,” he said.

Cornelius Police Officer Dan Waltman directs traffic Monday morning at Catawba and N.C. 115.

Power was restored to Duke Energy customers by 3:30 a.m., he said. But Electricities customers in Cornelius remained without power later Monday morning.

DavidsonNews.net and CorneliusNews.net readers in downtown Davidson and North Main Street in Cornelius reported reported hearing a loud boom or booms around 1:30 a.m. Cornelius firefighters on emergency radio were reporting a transformer fire.

Power was out in Cornelius east of I-77 and in the old part of Davidson as well as along Concord Road and in east Davidson.

The outage triggered a variety of alarms. Fire units were responding to The Pines at Davidson around 1:30 a.m., according to fire radio reports. Cornelius firefighters also had several emergency calls related to the power outage.