For immediate release
Contact: Jim McCarty
(573) 659-3402
(573) 680-2451

Co-ops work together to restore power

View the latest information about Missouri co-op systems affected by the ice storm.

Missouri’s electric cooperatives enacted their Emergency Assistance Program Dec. 9 as the season’s first ice storm pounded rural power lines in a band stretching from Joplin to St. Louis. Nearly 35,000 electric cooperative members were without power in the wake of the devastating storm. That number had fallen to 28,000 as crews worked through the night to restore power.

As outages began to occur in the southwest corner, electric cooperatives placed calls to the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives in Jefferson City. The association coordinates bringing in crews and equipment from unaffected parts of the state to lend assistance.

Crews were sent from Lewis County Electric, Lewistown; Ozark Electric Cooperative, Mount Vernon; West Central Electric, Higginsville; Barry Electric, Cassville; Black River Electric, Fredericktown; Howell-Oregon Electric, West Plains; Citizens Electric, Ste. Genevieve; White River Valley Electric, Branson; Webster Electric, Marshfield; Central Missouri Electric, Sedalia; Ralls County Electric, New London; Missouri Rural Electric, Palmyra; and Macon Electric, Macon.

Co-ops receiving help included Barton County Electric, Lamar; Sac Osage Electric, El Dorado Springs; Three Rivers Electric, Linn; Southwest Electric, Bolivar; and Callaway Electric, Fulton

Due to the nature of the storm, crews were hampered because of icy roads and fallen branches lining roads and rights of way.

“Our procedure is to start with neighboring systems to find help and work our way out,” said Rob Land, director of Risk Management and Training for the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives. “In this case everyone was seeing similar problems.”

Offers of assistance and crews have also come from cooperatives in surrounding states and from electrical contractors.

Estimates on when power will be fully restored are not yet available as electric co-ops brace for even more ice over the next three days.

Latest outage estimates are:

Barton Electric Cooperative, Lamar: 2,500
Boone Electric Cooperative, Columbia: 200
Callaway Electric Cooperative, Fulton: 6,000
Consolidated Electric Cooperative, Mexico: 100
CoMo Electric Cooperative, Tipton: 4,500
Cuivre River Electric Cooperative, Troy: 4,000
Sac Osage Electric Cooperative, El Dorado Springs: 3,500
Southwest Electric Cooperative, Bolivar: 5,000
Three Rivers Electric Cooperative, Linn: 2,500

“Ice storms are always devastating, and this one is no exception,” says Barry Hart, executive vice president of the association. “When you get this much ice, lines start snapping. Everyone in rural Missouri is working together to make sure the power gets back on and our members survive this one.”

He encourages members to be extremely careful around downed power lines, assuming any downed line is dangerous. He also advises using caution with generators, which can send current into power lines if they are not connected properly.

Electric cooperative systems are reporting that they are making headway in the restoration effort. Additional crews will be lending a hand to the most heavily damaged electric cooperatives as those crews get their own lines repaired.

Anyone in need of shelter is encouraged to call the Red Cross at 1-866-GETINFO.

For more information, contact Jim McCarty at the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives — (573) 635-6857, ext. 3402, jmccarty@amec.org.

 
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View photos from areas affected by ice.