Electricians In Full Demand During Outages

PSO crews have been scrambling for days to repair power lines, but you might have to hire an electrician to get you the rest of the way.  PSO is only responsible for the wires up to your weather head.  The News On 6's Steve Berg reports a lot of people don't know what a weather head is.

Electrician Phillip Lopez says the demand for electrical service is bolting past supply.

"Last Monday and Tuesday, it was a rat race, just running everywhere trying to pick up things," said Lopez.

The News On 6 caught up with Lopez and fellow electrician Wayne Miller as they were installing a new weather head and riser at a house in East Tulsa.

"The weather head would be what we just attached up there," said Lopez.  "Basically what it sounds like.  It's a weather head, protects it from the weather, the wire ya know."

Sounds easy enough, but not easy to find.  The city with federal emergency funds has set up a supply depot at the Fairgrounds inside the QuikTrip Expo Center.  People who can show they're a licensed contractor do not have to reimburse the city for the supplies.

"A lot of these houses use the same common material.  Some of it's still kind of hard to find, but we're getting it as it comes in," said Miller.

Lopez and Miller traveled all the way from Pryor to work.  They say they rarely did residential work in Tulsa in the past.

"Really busy.  We're staying busy constantly," said Lopez.

The City of Tulsa is still requiring contractors to go through the usual permitting process when the job is complete and the fee is still the same.