Electric Co-op Today

A destructive windstorm over northern Utah knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses, and lineworkers from a Wyoming co-op were among the crews that spent days working to restore service.

Mallory Winters, a lineman from Afton, Wyo.-based Lower Valley Energy, works to repair a deenergized line in Kaysville, Utah. (Photo By: Lower Valley Energy)

“Five of our linemen went to the aid of Kaysville Power and Light,” said Brian Tanabe, communications and marketing manager for Afton, Wyo.-based Lower Valley Energy. Although the co-op’s territory is 200 miles northeast of Kaysville, the linemen eagerly volunteered to help the municipal utility with repairs.

“The storm hit late Dec. 1, and our guys arrived early Saturday,” Dec. 3, Tanabe said. “They joined personnel from eight other utilities for restoration work that took several days.”

High winds knocked down trees, snapped power lines and caused widespread power outages over a large part of northern Utah, Tanabe said. “It was pretty damaging for an area that seldom gets hurricane-force winds.”

Local forecasters compared the storm to a Category 2 hurricane, with wind gusts topping 100 mph in the Kaysville and Centerville area. Sustained winds of 60 mph to 70 mph were reported between North Ogden and Bountiful.

Investor-owned Rocky Mountain Power reported the bulk of the 50,000 outages, but several municipal utilities also reported problems.

“We got east winds coming off the mountains,” said Bruce Rigby, resource and service manager for Kaysville Power and Light. “This was the worst windstorm we’ve seen in the 28 years that I’ve been here.”

More than 3,500 of the municipal utility’s meters were without power early Dec. 2, but most service was restored within two days. Crews continued to repair damaged equipment through Dec. 6, Rigby said. “The crews that came in subscribe to mutual aid agreements under the Intermountain Power Superintendents’ Association. We were glad to get the help.”

Tags: Lineworkers, Power Outages, Response