By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
Electric cooperative employees, mutual aid workers and contractor crews are focusing on power restoration after the weekend tornado outbreak. As of Monday night, they have reduced the number of outages from 80,000 to 10,000.
More than 500 employees are working to restore power in western Kentucky, which was especially hard hit. Crews from more than 20 cooperatives in several states are assisting line technicians from West Kentucky RECC, Warren RECC, Gibson EMC and Pennyrile Electric.
“Our hearts are heavy with the loss of life, homes, businesses and livelihoods in our communities,” said Chris Perry, president and CEO of Kentucky Electric Cooperatives and United Utility Supply Cooperative. “The co-op mission is to improve the quality of life in the communities we serve, and co-op crews are doing what they can to try to help our members recover from this disaster. I want to personally thank the crews for their incredible response within such a short time.”
Louisville-based United Utility Supply Cooperative, or UUS, has been delivering truckload after truckload of electric materials and supplies to affected co-ops, even deploying office staff to join their truck drivers and deliver extra loads, as needed.
Recognizing early that there were forecasts of severe weather on Friday night and Saturday morning, UUS worked with its transformer vendor, ERMCO, to secure an extra supply of transformers, so they would be able to deliver them where they were most needed after the storms. Despite supply chain concerns, UUS has been able to deliver needed supplies to the affected co-ops.
Kentucky’s 26 electric cooperatives serve more than 1.5 million people, about 35% of the state’s population, in 117 of Kentucky’s 120 counties.
The Tennessee Valley Authority supplies a number of co-ops and other power companies in Kentucky.
As of Tuesday morning, the TVA says they have restored 17 of the 21 connection points serving local power companies impacted by the storms in northwest Tennessee and western Kentucky, reducing the number of consumers without power by more than 85% over Saturday’s peaks.
More than 160 TVA line workers, additional contractor crews and TVA Aviation Services helicopter crews remain focused on repairing or replacing 97 transmission towers and poles and miles of transmission line to fully restore power in the impacted area. Hundreds of additional TVA employees are working across the region to support the field teams’ efforts.
The TVA says the storms were the most destructive to impact the region since the April 2011 tornado outbreak, and due to the extent of the damage, cannot provide a timetable for full power restoration.