Electric Co-op Today

Heavy wet snow accompanied by gusty winds and thunder led to massive power outages in the Mid-Atlantic region as residents along much of the East Coast faced another round of severe winter weather.

As co-op crews worked to restore power in the Mid-Atlantic region, Jashua Bates, 10, found time to play in the snow on a shopping center parking lot in Annapolis, Md., Jan. 27. (Photo By: Associated Prtess/Susan Walsh)

“Wednesday evening’s snowstorm left nearly 20,000 members without power,” said Brian Wolfe, a public relations specialist for Rappahannock Electric Cooperative. Almost 15 percent of the Fredericksburg, Va.-based co-op’s 154,000 meters were temporarily without service as the storm pushed toward the Atlantic coast Jan. 26.

“Outages started about 5 p.m. and peaked around 10 p.m.,” said Wolfe. “Our outages appear to be caused by the storm’s high winds causing trees heavily laden with wet snow to fall onto our power lines.”

Working staggered 16-hour shifts, Rappahannock Electric lineworkers and crews from four other Virginia co-ops cut the number of outages to about 2,300 by the following evening and were working their way through 200 remaining outages Jan. 28.

Similar problems were reported by several other co-ops in the region. Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative, Mount Crawford, Va., reported about 675 members without power before midnight Jan. 27.

Crews were mobilized immediately, said J. Michael Aulgur, the co-op’s manager of external affairs. “Crews will work diligently to restore power to our member-owners as quickly and as safely as possible.”

Lightning and thunder punctuated the storm as it moved through the National Capital region, dumping five to 10 inches of heavy wet snow over parts of northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., in a few short hours.

“Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative reported nearly 24,000 members out,” said Jeb Hockman, manager of member and public relations for the Virginia, Maryland and Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives. 

Tags: Lineworkers, Power Outages, Response