LG&E and KU crews helping restore power along the East Coast
Sunday, February 16, 2014
We have dealt with snow, ice and frigid temperatures for months. While next week may bring some slightly warmer temperatures, our neighbors in the Southeast to the Northeast are trying to dig out of another winter blast that has left hundreds of thousands of people without power. To help impacted utilities with preparations and response efforts, we released 70 employees and 238 business partners this past week as part of a nationwide mutual assistance network. The crews included line technicians, damage assessors and transmission technicians.
We understand sending mutual aid crews can be a delicate balance, particularly when the forecast for our service territory may include threatening weather. According to our Director of Electric System Restoration and Distribution, John Wolfe, “We have to ensure, first and foremost, that LG&E and KU customers are being taken care of based on current conditions, business needs and the weather forecast. Given the limited impact of this latest round of winter storms to LG&E and KU service areas, we were able to send a number of contract crews mid-week, but needed to hold our company personnel and additional business partners until Winter Storm Pax passed completely through our eastern Kentucky and ODP territories.”
We are involved in four mutual assistance programs with Great Lakes Mutual Assistance, Midwest Mutual Assistance, Southeastern Electric Exchange and Southern Gas Association. The partnerships mean access to valuable resources and hundreds of crews from more than 20 states when mobilizing for large-scale restoration efforts.
