Southwestern Electric Ready To Respond

As precipitation continues to fall in Missouri and Illinois this morning, Southwestern Electric operations and engineering personnel are evaluating the weekend forecast. “So far we’ve experienced just a handful of outages, but we’re not letting our guard down,” said Bobby Williams, Southwestern’s chief operating officer.

 

As of 6 a.m. Saturday, about 25 members were without power. “We have some ice on the lines and we see it on the poles, but there’s no wind, and that’s made a tremendous difference,” Williams said.

 

Earlier in the week, Southwestern recruited contract crews from three states to address the high probability of extensive damage and widespread outages from the storm. The cooperative doubled its outside workforce, enlisting crews and equipment from Southern Illinois, Indiana and Missouri.

 

Southwestern also contacted materials suppliers to ensure additional poles and hardware were available. “It’s been a valuable exercise in disaster preparedness. We’ve strengthened our working relationships with several contractors, and we’ll have that moving forward,” Williams said. “At this point, we’re hoping the storm spares us, but if the weather turns, we’re ready to respond.”

 

For outage updates from Southwestern Electric click here.