Stronger Together: Co-ops Work Together to Rebuild After a Storm
Electric cooperatives are built on seven principles, one of which is “cooperation among cooperatives”. Southeastern Electric recently had the opportunity to live out that principle by assisting with storm restoration for Burt County Public Power District in Tekamah, Nebraska. On March 19, a blizzard with strong winds, heavy snow and thick ice hit eastern Nebraska. Storm updates shared from the South Dakota Rural Electric Association (SDREA) stated the area received 8 – 12 inches of snow, wind gusts up to 80 mph, snow drifts up to 12-feet deep in some areas and ice on the power lines that was sometimes as thick as a 20-oz pop bottle. Weather conditions like these are destructive to transmission and distribution equipment and cause widespread outages.
Burt County provides electricity to 4,200 meters over 2,200 miles of line in rural Nebraska. The storm caused extensive damage to Burt County’s infrastructure. They lost approximately 200 transmission structures and 500 distribution structures, causing outages on 3,500 meters affecting 95% of their district. This level of destruction is difficult for any organization to manage, but with only 20 employees at Burt County, they were going to need assistance from neighboring utilities.
Help is on the Way
SDREA manages the mutual aid program for the South Dakota cooperatives and coordinated with Southeastern Electric and other co-ops to send assistance to Burt County. In total, over 100 linemen from 14 utilities were sent to Burt County. SDREA sent a total of 20 linemen from Central Electric, Dakota Energy, Douglas Electric, Sioux Valley Energy and Southeastern Electric to restore power and rebuild line from March 20 – 27. Southeastern employees Eric Christiansen, Devin Eppard, Michael Hanson and Sean Jolley brought equipment including a skid steer, a bucket truck, a digger and a service truck to assist with the restoration efforts.
“We arrived to a snowy, slushy mess,” said Christiansen. “Lines and poles were down everywhere, laying in the ditches and across the roads.” The initial work included removing the damaged poles and lines from the roads before they could start rebuilding the infrastructure.
“The first three days were bad – really muddy and it was difficult to get around,” shared Hanson. “Then on Sunday the wind blew, and it warmed up, which helped dry out the roads and ditches, but it was blowing up to 50 mph and we all ended up wind burnt!”
Long, demanding days are part of a lineman’s job description, but during storm restoration it is not uncommon for them to spend 15-16 hours a day working. “We started at 6 a.m. and the days were long, but we felt so accomplished at the end of each day,” shared Jolley. “It was crazy to see the total devastation of the downed lines and broken poles, but knowing that we were making a difference felt good.”
The crew shared that they felt appreciated by not only Burt County employees, but also by the people living in the area. “The board and employees made meals for us and delivered lunch to the field,” said Devin. “The locals were so friendly and thankful for our help in restoring power to their homes and farms. Several nights they paid for our meals at the local restaurant.”
Although it was a difficult week, the crew shared that assisting after storms is a highlight of their career. The work is hard and intense, but it is gratifying to see all they can accomplish in a short amount of time and know they are making a difference in people’s lives. “I would go again in a heartbeat,” smiled Hanson. “I could have stayed longer! We enjoyed working with Sioux Valley’s crew and with our skid steers it made it possible for us to work faster.” The two crews rebuilt almost 11 miles of line and put up around 165 poles during those 7 days.
“Your crews rebuilt some main 3-phase feeders out of our substations in some of the worst hit areas of our district,” explained Jon Dockhorn, general manager of Burt County. “They did a great job!”
In times of crisis, cooperatives work together to weather the storms and bring power back to the members. It is part of who we are as cooperatives.