UPDATE Feb. 20, 2026 ED3 spokesperson Leslie O’Hare told InMaricopa the Thursday outage stemmed from an equipment failure involving pad-mounted switchgear installed in the mid-2000s.

The equipment had undergone annual inspections, including prior thermal testing that showed no known issues, but crews were able to complete switching operations and restore power to all customers.

ORIGINAL STORY Feb. 19, 2026 Residents and students in Maricopa’s Tortosa neighborhood experienced a brief yet unexpected power outage this morning.

The outage, which began about 11:15 a.m., was the result of a failed switch in a transformer box at Costa del Sol Boulevard and El Greco Street, in front of Santa Cruz Elementary School.

Utility data showed 1,516 customers were affected at the height of the outage.

Residents shared video and speculation on social media about the outage, with one clip showing Maricopa police and fire crews surrounding the box around 11:30 a.m.

“Transformer in front of the school caught fire,” wrote Sorrento resident LeAnna Corona.

Electrical District No. 3 line foreman Rich Witt told a switch failed, causing smoking and leading to the outage. He showed an InMaricopa reporter the damaged side of the box.

“It’s not supposed to look like that,” he said.

Inside, the box was covered in soot, with some plastic elements warped and switches pulled. The door panel was also coated in soot, showing where smoke escaped.

“It’s supposed to be clean, like this,” Witt said, gesturing to an undamaged side of the transformer box.

He said the ED3 service crew isolated the damage and restored power to most of the area by 11:45 a.m., though part of the elementary school still lacked power at that time.