About half of the more than 500 Central Electric Cooperative customers in Middlesex Township were without power early Tuesday afternoon.

Matthew Boshaw, the cooperative’s CEO, said two electric lines touched and basically shorted out the circuit in an area where crews were working on the grid.

The lines were repaired but touched again, Boshaw said.

Crews took some slack out of the lines and increased the distance between them, which remedied the problem.

Boshaw said Middlesex customers were without electricity on Tuesday from 12:40 to 2:25 p.m., when power was restored.