Only 50 left without power

By AMBER DILLEY
Glasgow Daily Times

February 05, 2009 12:39 pm

— Customers of Farmer’s Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation are getting power back after days of nearly constant work by linemen.
As of 6 a.m. today, there were only 50 customers without power in Hart County, according to Jerry Carter, vice president of member and corporate services.
The power to these remaining customers should be restored by this afternoon.
If customers’ electric service entrance, which typically consists of the service weatherhead and meter base assemblies, has been damaged, it must be repaired by a licensed electrician, according to Carter.
“The service entrance can be located on the side of the home, barn or meter pole,” he said.
If customers have any knowledge of damaged cooperative facilities, such as broken poles or low hanging wires, report them to the Munfordville office at 524-5030 or the Glasgow office at 651-2191.
The total number of Kentuckians who went without power at the peak of last week’s ice storm has been increased to 769,353, according to the Kentucky Public Service Commission.
The commission reported that nearly three-fourths have power restored and about 208,335 are still without power.
“These numbers simply bring into sharper focus what we already knew,” said Gov. Steve Beshear. “This is the worst disruption of essential services on record in Kentucky.
PSC chairman David Armstrong cautioned that full restoration of power may be a week or more away for customers in the hardest-hit areas, most of which are in western Kentucky.
“The extent of damage is unprecedented, particularly to the electric transmission lines that are the backbone of the system,” Armstrong said. “Completing repairs in the working conditions following the storm is going to be a difficult and time-consuming process.”
The PSC will continue to monitor the progress of restoration efforts by utilities under its jurisdiction.
Lessons learned from this storm will be used to improve response to future emergencies, Armstrong said.
“We certainly hope we never again experience anything like this storm,” he said. “But if we do, we need to know what should be done differently.”