PERRYVILLE – The Citizens Electric Corporation reported its ongoing efforts to restore power Monday afternoon.
CEC reported 7,412 meters still without power as of 4:30 p.m. Monday: 4,676 in Perry County, 2,331 in Cape Girardeau County and 405 in Ste. Genevieve County.
In Monday’s 4 p.m. update, Citizens Electric stated it has mobilized 90 line and support contractors, with additional on standby, to join our workforce as we work through outages caused by Winter Storm Blair’s impact. Our dedicated team has been working tirelessly over the last 30+ hours to restore power, facing extreme weather conditions along the way.
Crews are continuing to make progress towards restoring power to members in a manner that is both safe and efficient. Often times this means beginning with the highest density population areas that are experiencing outages and branching out from there. This will allow further troubleshooting to take place on our infrastructure.
Earlier Monday afternoon, in its 2 p.m. update, CEC reported there were just over 8,368 members without power throughout our service area, with Perry and Cape counties seeing many of the outages.
Though we’d like it to be, outage restoration is not a one-size-fits-all kind of operation. Sometimes, it’s resetting a fuse or clearing a tree off of a line. Or, as you can see in the photo, it’s a downed span of wire tangled in a snow-and-ice-covered area difficult to access. Regardless of the unique challenge, our crews remain dedicated to the task at hand: restoring power to all affected members.
Restoration efforts continue, but it is clear that not all members will have power restored (Monday) night, and we do not have estimates on when each outage will be restored. If possible, affected members should consider moving to a location that has electricity, especially if they have a medical device that require power.
Our crews and staff thank you for your patience and kind words as we work to get all members restored.
In its 11 a.m. update Monday morning, CEC reported downed trees, broken poles, downed lines, broken cross-arms and insulators. Vegetation crews have had to cut their way in and then often turn around and cut their way out. They’ve been blocked in from fallen limbs numerous times. Hopefully, the weak tree trunks are done falling and we can make real progress.
At the height of the storm, Citizens Electric experienced over 12,000 meters without service and multiple substations without power. As of (Monday morning), we have approximately 10,000 meters without service including two substations. Our crews in the field, using all the technology available, have worked tirelessly through the night in some of the worst conditions. They will continue to work throughout the day. Citizens has additional outside line and forestry crews assisting to restore service. The ice buildup on the trees and power lines is significant. The icing on lines and blowing winds caused additional outages throughout the night. We have numerous lines down and travel has been difficult in places. We hope to make great strides today; however, given the wind forecast, we could experience additional outages today. We will continue to provide updates throughout the day.
Assume all low and downed lines are energized and dangerous, even if they are not arcing. Never approach a downed power line. Do not try to drive across or move lines. They can cause serious injury or death. Report these situations immediately.
To report a power outage, call 1-877-876-3511. Please note, that due to the severity of the system at this time, we are not able to estimate the time of most outages. Once an outage has been reported, it stays in the system until power has been restored. Rest assured we will be working as quickly and safely as conditions allow to restore power to you.
A big shout-out to the many friends of Citizens Electric.
Thank you so much to the following organizations as they have also assisted with our restoration efforts:
Cuivre River Electric Cooperative, Inc. – mutual aid assistance.
Crawford Electric Cooperative – mutual aid assistance.
Asplundh Tree Expert, LLC – vegetation management.
Power Line Consultants – distribution line contractor.
L.E. Myers Co. – transmission and distribution line contractor.
Hoeckele’s Bakery and Deli – food service.
DC’s Catering- food service.
