Situation Update 10
January 29, 2009 – 8:30 p.m.
ICE STORM POWER OUTAGE UPDATE
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission reports 22,870 homes and businesses across the state are without electric service due to the ice storm.
Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives (OAEC) reports 21,660 electric cooperative customers are without power. The largest number of outages continues in Cherokee and Adair counties. While today’s shedding of ice weight from electric lines was good news, in some ways it is also causing additional outages, as the lines “bounce” and come together briefly, causing line fuses to blow and circuit breakers to operate or lock out. Tree limbs are also an issue now, as released ice weight causes branches to pop up, hitting power lines and causing more fuses to blow.
Below is a list of current affected electric cooperatives, the location of their office and the number of power outages.
Cookson Hills Electric (Stigler) – 1,956
East Central Oklahoma Electric (Okmulgee) – 2,000
Kiamichi Electric Cooperative (Wilburton) – 450
Lake Region Electric Cooperative (Hulbert) – 6,800
Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative (Vinita) – 204
Ozarks Electric Cooperative (Fayetteville, Ark.) – 10,250
OG&E reports 285 outages in Bokoshe
Municipal Electric Systems of Oklahoma reports 175 outages in Stilwell and 750 in Tahlequah
###