News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Local electric companies are on standby with several winter weather chances over the next week.
Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation CEO Jennifer Brogdon said the company has an emergency preparedness plan.
“We have to make sure that our crews are ready to respond in the event we have heavy snow or in this case ice,” Brogdon said. “Ice on power lines can be a bad combination.”
Brogdon said operations are usually based on the amount of precipitation expected. According to the corporation, a quarter of an inch of ice is when initial damage to power lines occur. Wide spread outages become a concern at a half an inch.
“We just gather up and we discuss what we expect and what we see coming in,” Brogdon said. “And then we discuss who we have that is available to help support us in the event that we need it from the line crew to the customer service folks in the office that often assist answering the telephones.”
Brogdon said downed power lines can be extremely dangerous. Brogdon said always report those situations to your electric provider.
“They can be dangerous tens of feet, even hundreds of feet away from the line, so it is really important not to be close to those lines,” Brogdon said. “They can be energized. If you observe a downed power line, call our number, which is 1-800-261-2940 to report your outage. We will get that information immediately.”
Ice storms are always more of a concern for electric companies than thunder storms, Brogdon said. Wide spread outages from ice usually take longer to respond to due to the conditions and total area of coverage.
