Thousands At Work To Restore Electricity

The massive effort continues to turn the lights back on across Green Country. News On 6 anchor Jennifer Loren reports almost 3,000 utility workers from across the country are on the job now in Oklahoma. The operation is centered at the Tulsa County Fairgrounds. That's where the crews load up on supplies and get their assignments.

But, it's up to a few dozen experts to make sure they get the work done. People like Dwayne Apple who is a circuit general for PSO.

"What we're doing is we're going through with a circuit concept, and there are guys like me all over town that are leading several crews. And, we're getting the main part of the feeders on that pick up the most customers, and then when we complete that, we'll start on the lateral lines and picking up the rest," said PSO Circuit General Dwayne Apple.

Dwayne's regular job is manager of training for PSO, but as a temporary circuit general, he's responsible for 15 circuits. PSO has thousands of circuits divided up among dozens of circuit generals just like Dwayne. He says sometimes one neighborhood will stay dark, even though power has been restored nearby.

"It may mean that we have the trunk on, but for some reason there's damage to that lateral that we can't get it on. Well then, we'll cut it or isolate that lateral so that we can get the main body or the majority of the customers on and then we have to come back and work on that little piece," said PSO's Dwayne Apple.

Dwayne says his crews know that customers are getting desperate, and they're working as fast as they can.

"I've worked a lot of ice storms, you know, in Oklahoma. Since 2000, we've had two down in the McAlester area and one out in the Weatherford area and the ice was severe in all of those. We actually saw more ice in those than we did in this, but never this much damage," added PSO's Dwayne Apple.

Just because you see a utility crew in your neighborhood, it doesn't mean the crews are actually doing repair work. They could be assessing the damage or checking to see if it's safe for repairs to be made. But, PSO wants to assure everyone that utility crews are working 12 to 14 hours a day to get the power back on.