Electric Co-op Today

Electric cooperatives in Missouri are taking proactive steps now to guard against future damage from natural disasters.

Guy Thomas paddles along Missouri’s flood-swollen Shoal’s Creek. Hazard mitigation funds could reduce future damage to electric co-op systems from such events. (Photo by: Associated Press/Mike Gullett)

With regional officials and their statewide association, co-ops are looking to qualify for federal hazard mitigation funds, which could help them cover some of the costs of hardening portions of their systems.

Since 1993, Missouri has received 32 presidential declarations for disaster-related assistance, said Rob Land, director of risk management and training for the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives. “We’ve seen damage from ice storms, wind storms, flooding and tornadoes in Missouri in recent years.”

Nearly all of Missouri’s electric co-ops are hoping to share grant money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s hazard mitigation program, Land said. Each of the participating co-ops is developing a five-year plan designed to reduce potential damage from future natural disasters.

Co-ops began working with 15 of Missouri’s 17 regional planning commissions to draft elements of the application, Land said. “Co-ops have been submitting individual hazard mitigation plans for review since earlier this fall.”

FEMA provided a $386,667 grant to offset the costs of work on the regional plans. The project could lead to the state’s first federally approved five-year hazard mitigation plan for electric cooperatives.

“Some of these plans may propose hardening some system components with more robust hardware to withstand ice storm and wind damage,” Land said. “Others may include proposals to reduce potential damage caused by earthquakes along the New Madrid Fault.”

Besides upgrading utility lines and equipment, some plans could include proposals for relocating overhead lines below ground, Land said. “We’re working to get the statewide plan completed for presentation to FEMA by next May.”

The project marks the first time Missouri’s electric cooperatives have attempted to meet requirements for the grant, said Tye Parsons, executive director of the Northwest Missouri Regional Council of Governments in Marysville. “As it stands now… we do not have a federally approved hazard mitigation plan.”

Tags: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Flooding, Ice Storm, Power Outages, Preparedness, Wind Storm