WVEC Restores Power to 2,440 Customers After Storm

Dave Page, general manager of Whetstone Valley Electric Cooperative said, “Crews worked late into the evening Thursday and continued on Friday to restore power to cooperative members in rural Grant and Roberts counties after strong winds caused damage throughout the service territory. Many power lines were damaged by falling trees or blowing debris. The storm caused extensive damage to transmission lines of East River Electric, Whetstone’s wholesale power supplier, which resulted in the loss of power to four of the six substations serving Whetstone Valley members.”

Page said, “At one time, approximately 2,440 Whetstone consumers were without power. East River Electric’s operations personnel worked to reroute power and restore substation power late Thursday evening. A subsequent transmission fault early Friday morning caused the loss of power to three of the substations. After all substation power was fully restored at 7:35 a.m. on Friday, approximately 125 Whetstone Valley Electric consumers were still experiencing outages.” As of 2 p.m. on Friday, 21 Whetstone Valley members remained without power. 

On Saturday, WVEC line technicians and electricians continued to work diligently to remove trees from the lines and make repairs. Full restoration to all consumers was expected.
 

“We would like to thank our members for their understanding and patience while repairs were being made to safely restore their power,” Page added.  “I’d also like to thank the dedicated team members at Whetstone Valley and East River Electric for their work to get the lights back on.” 
Everyone is reminded to think safety first. Never approach damaged or downed power lines as they may be energized and dangerous.