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

Dec. 17, 2007 — 10:30 a.m.

Most electric co-ops back on

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

Most of the electric cooperatives affected by the season’s first major winter storm report outages have been fully restored today while three have isolated outages and a third still has heavy outages. Barton County Electric, Lamar, reports fewer than 100 without power while Grundy Electric, Trenton has about 75 without power and Atchison-Holt Electric, Rockport is mopping up the last 40. United Electric, Maryville, still has about 1,100 outages.

Snow that fell across north Missouri slowed recovery efforts but did not stop them as crews bundled up to work in the bitter cold. Barton County and Grundy electric cooperatives expect to have power fully restored by Tuesday. At United Electric, crews expect to remain in the field until Thursday or Friday before the all-out effort ends. Fresh crews continue to pour into the co-op’s service area in the wake of what many are calling the worst ice storm in the area’s history.

Total electric cooperative outages for the entire state now stand at 1,275, down from an estimated 46,000 at the height of the problem. Over the weekend, North-Central Missouri Electric, Milan, Tri-County Electric, Lancaster and Sac-Osage Electric, El Dorado Springs, completed their outage work.

As restoration efforts wind down, members are encouraged to let their cooperative know if they are still without power. Isolated outages could occur as trees continue to fall and weakened lines give out. Any downed power line should be considered live and dangerous, even if power to nearby buildings is off.

Missouri’s electric cooperatives wish to thank their members for their patience during this extremely trying time. A big thank you also goes to the thousands of linemen who worked around the clock under the most difficult conditions imaginable without complaint in order to restore service. Their work is especially appreciated considering many of them also had families suffering without power back home.

Latest outage estimates

Atchison-Holt Electric Cooperative, Rockport: 40 (Expect to complete today);
Barton County Electric Cooperative, Lamar: 100 (Expect to complete Tuesday)
Boone Electric Cooperative, Columbia: Restoration complete
Callaway Electric Cooperative, Fulton: Restoration complete
Consolidated Electric Cooperative, Mexico: Restoration complete
CoMo Electric Cooperative, Tipton: Restoration complete
Cuivre River Electric Cooperative, Troy: Restoration complete
Farmers’ Electric Cooperative, Chillicothe: Restoration complete
Grundy Electric Cooperative, Trenton: 75
New Mac Electric Cooperative, Neosho: Restoration complete
North Central Missouri Electric Cooperative, Milan: Restoration complete
Ozark Electric Cooperative, Mt. Vernon: Restoration complete
Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative, Kearney: Restoration complete
Sac Osage Electric Cooperative, El Dorado Springs: Restoration complete
Southwest Electric Cooperative, Bolivar: Restoration complete
Three Rivers Electric Cooperative, Linn: Restoration complete
Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Lancaster: Restoration complete
United Electric Cooperative, Maryville: 1,100

Total: 1,315

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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