Power outages followed the Interstate 44 corridor throughout the day Friday as ice from Winter Storm Jupiter fell across the southern part of the state. Most of the outages numbered in the hundreds or less for the electric cooperatives in the storm’s path.
Outages started slowly, with 132 co-op members without service at 10 a.m. As the ice grew on trees, those numbers doubled to 350 a half hour later. They peaked at 2,000, with the most remaining trouble spots located in the heavily forested areas served by Citizens Electric Corp., Perryville, Intercounty Electric Cooperative, Licking, and Crawford Electric Cooperative, Bourbon.
“We currently have around 500 members without power, primarily due to the weight of ice on trees near powerlines,” Intercounty Electric reported through social media at 3 p.m. “The greatest portion of outages are in our central territory, spanning from Roby through Edgar Springs and surrounding areas to north of Salem. Crews are working to restore power and unless they find something unexpected, anticipate to have a good portion of these members back on shortly.”
Crawford Electric reported that its lines were holding up well. “There is still some uncertainty with this system and the long-range forecast. But there’s no reason not to prepare,” said the co-op’s CEO Tony Mallory. He added that crews will be on the job all weekend.
Co-ops initially impacted by the storm reported getting one line up, only to have another one go down. Crews stayed with the outages and by Friday afternoon Ozark Electric was reporting that power had been restored to all members. Southwest Electric Cooperative was working just a handful of outages at that time.
The storm also hammered Black River Electric Cooperative, Fredericktown. Outages in Madison and Wayne counties peaked at 1,230. Most of the outages were caused by a single tree that fell across a feeder line close to a substation. There was no damage to the line, and once the tree was removed power began to flow again. By afternoon the cooperative had restored power to its members, only to see a single line fail, affecting less than 200 members.
“The lack of wind has really been in our favor,” said John Singleton, Black River’s manager. “We are not out of the woods yet. There is more coming, so no one here is declaring victory.” Meanwhile Lebanon-based Laclede Electric Cooperative continued to work approximately 200 outages on its lines, with most in Laclede County. Citizens Electric crews kept busy all day with outage numbers ranging from 40 to 70, then shooting up to 683 in the afternoon.
As the storm comes in waves, outages likely will continue through the evening and into Saturday, but all systems are prepared to stay with the situation until every member is back on line. Missouri’s electric cooperatives appreciate their members’ support and patience during this difficult time.