Electric Co-op Today

Two North Dakota electric cooperatives that suffered significant damage to their distribution systems from flooding along the Missouri and Souris rivers will get federal help.

A home in Bismarck, N.D. is broken apart by Missouri River floodwaters, June 22, 2011. (Photo By: Associated Press/The Bismarck Tribune, Brian Gehring)

Verendrye Electric Cooperative will receive grants totaling $1.9 million and Capital Electric Cooperative will get $1.5 million. The money, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will cover some of the costs incurred for power restoration and replacement of some distribution system components, damaged by floodwaters and corrosion.

“We lost more than 500 transformers,” said Paul Fitterer, business manager of Bismarck-based Capital Electric. A handful of the co-op’s consumer-members were temporarily without power for portions of the Missouri River flooding period that began in April with a rapid snowmelt, followed by heavy rainfall.

“We were able to get power restored to most consumer-members whose property could be served safely, quickly,” Fitterer said. “We’ve been finding a lot of corrosion in the transformer components.”

The co-op serves about 13,000 consumer-members in portions of five counties east of the Missouri River. In recent weeks, lineworkers have been inspecting the transformers and replacing those that suffered significant damage, Fitterer said.

When the Souris River reached historic flood levels in the Minot area June 23, Verendrye Electric Cooperative suffered more than $2 million in damage to its distribution system.

“The FEMA money really helps,” said Tom Rafferty, community relations manager for the Velva-based co-op, which services about 12,500 meters in seven counties. “Our members won’t have to bear the whole burden of the restoration and reconstruction costs.”

The co-op has already spent about $250,000 restoring service to a mobile home community in Minot. It has also extended new service to a FEMA community of temporary homes where displaced residents live while their homes are repaired or rebuilt.

Sens. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Rep. Rick Berg, R-N.D., announced the awards, totaling $3,427,376, in a joint statement released Oct. 20.

“Our utilities—as well as our communities—were hit hard by floods this year,” the delegation said in the statement. “This funding will help rebuild the infrastructure… and help maintain a reliable source of power for our communities.”

Tags: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Flooding, Power Outages, Recovery, Weather