About 5,230 customers were without power Monday after a mechanical failure at a Holly Pond substation, according to Amy Gorham, Cullman Electric Cooperative communication coordinator.

Cullman Electric Cooperative issued a press release stating an outage occurred at substations in Berlin and Holly Pond about 6:30 a.m. Customers served by the Berlin substation were without power for about 50 minutes, while Holly Pond Customers were without power for seven-and-a-half hours.

Holly Pond schools were dismissed Monday morning as a result of the outage, Cullman County Schools spokeswoman Kim Arnold said. Welti Elementary School also experienced a brief power outage that was restored before students arrived, Arnold said.

“We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding during the outage,” said Kyle Baggett, vice president of Engineering and Operations at Cullman Electric Cooperative. “Mechanical failures are beyond our control, but know that we will always work diligently to restore your power in the safest and most efficient way possible.”

The Holly Pond and Berlin substations are served by the same transmission line, according to the press release. When the Holly Pond transfomer failed, the breaker responded as designed, and opened to the Berlin substation.

Extensive repair on the Holly Pond transformer bushings prolonged the outage time in that area, according to the press release.