Verdigris Valley Electric Busy Restoring Power To 3,000 Meters

Weather continues to play a role in Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative's efforts to restore service to about 3,000 meters served by three substations around the Claremore area.

According to Mike Hall, VVEC director of operations and engineering, the area currently experiencing outages ranges from just north of Highway 60 near Nowata, south to near Catoosa, and from east of Interstate 44, east of Claremore to northeast of Skiatook Lake.

The affected substations are Sequoyah, Keetonville, and Verdigris, a news release says. The number of outages were reported at 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Hall says although repairs have been made to the Keetonville substation, freezing rain and wind continue to cause problems which result in the service being repeatedly interrupted. He adds about 1,000 meters will have service once repairs are completed to the Sequoyah substation. Work is continuing on the Verdigris substation also.

He says the majority of outages are caused by ice-laden power lines, and ice weighing down trees and branches causing them to fall onto the power lines. Also, outages are caused by lines slapping together as ice falls off the lines.

Crews have been working to restore electric service since about 10:30 p.m. Friday, and employees have been manning the co-op's numerous phone lines Saturday.

Members wanting to follow the co-op's repair efforts can visit the co-op's website and click on the ‘outage map' icon on the home page.

"This weather makes it uncomfortable for both our members who are without their electric service, and our crews working to restore that service," says Hall. "We appreciate our members being patient and understanding as we continue to make needed repairs."