A SUPPLEMENT TO OKLAHOMA LIVING


LIVEWIRE JUNE 2017 | VOLUME 68 ISSUE 6 | PUBLISHED FOR MEMBERS OF TRI-COUNTY ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE Blizzard Hammers Territory CEO VIEW


Battling Mother Nature By Zac Perkins


I feel like a losing boxer in the ring with Mother Nature. Since the beginning, 2017 has been interesting to say the least. We’ve seen a devastating ice storm, a cross country fire and a blizzard in three months. They say bad things come in threes. I’m hoping this is true and we will be relieved of disaster for a long time.


The damaged pole count from the storms in the past few months has climbed to an estimated 5,000. We were founded in 1945 and coming to an end-of-age cycle with a lot of our system. We have been fortunate the system has performed as well and as long as it has.


We can’t say enough about you, the member, and the patience and appreciation you’ve shown our people during this time. This will be a financial challenge for the co-op as we absorb the cost of these storms. We’re going to do our best to keep rates as low as possible.


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THE APRIL 29-30 BLIZZARD HAMMERED TCEC’S SERVICE TERRITORY. SOME OF THE DAMAGE IN THE GOODWELL AREA IS PICTURED HERE.


On April 29 and 30 a spring blizzard swept through TCEC’s service territory, damaging 2200 poles and knocking out power to more than 17,000 meters.


On May 11 at 10:30 p.m., power was restored to the last member’s home and about 150 nonresidential meters still remained without power.


During those 11 days, it was all hands on deck at TCEC and then some. Crews from other electric cooperatives and contractors also came to assist. TCEC thanks the following cooperatives for their help: Alfalfa Electric Cooperative, Central Electric Cooperative, Cimarron Electric Cooperative, Electric


Cooperatives of Arkansas, Indian Electric Cooperative, KAMO Power Cooperative, Kay Electric Cooperative, Northfork Electric Cooperative, Northwestern Electric Cooperative, Inc., Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, Southwest Rural Electric Association, Inc. and Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative, Inc. 


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