Power outage at Newark Airport delays some flights

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Electrical power was knocked out on Monday at Newark Liberty International Airport, delaying some flights, due to the local utility upgrading equipment to handle peak summertime power demands, authorities said.

The power outage affected Terminals A, B and C at the airport, delaying some outbound flights, said Port Authority of New York and New Jersey which runs the airport.

Inbound flights arrived normally, Port Authority said. The airport's AirTrain, which connects commuter railroad trains, parking lots, terminals and other facilities, also was affected during the outage, authorities said.

The outage lasted from about 2:30 p.m. until about 4 p.m. local time, said authorities with the PSE&G utility.

The outage was caused by an equipment failure at a switching station in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the utility said.

"The problem occurred while PSE&G was upgrading the switching station in time for peak summer load," it said in a statement.

During the outage, the airport used a backup power source, Port Authority said.

Power was interrupted elsewhere in northern New Jersey -- in parts of Hillside, Elizabeth, Union, Newark, Roselle, Linden, Kenilworth and Irvington -- as well as the airport, the utility said.

Also affected were business customers Anheuser Busch, Jersey Gardens Mall and Tuscan Dairy, the utility said.

About 20,000 customers were affected, it said.

(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst; editing by Greg McCune)