A new rotation of Missouri electric cooperative lineworkers, including eight from CREC, headed south this week destined to Louisiana where they will relieve crews that have been restoring power in the wake of Hurricane Ida. On Aug. 31, CREC joined 173 lineworkers from across Missouri to assist Dixie Electric Membership Cooperative (DEMCO) repair its nearly 9,000-mile system. With the additional help, Show-Me State crews now represent 34 distribution and two transmission electric cooperatives.
After two weeks in the field, 162 replacements are en route to Baton Rouge, and the initial crews are expected to return home on Saturday, Sept. 11. During their time in the hurricane zone, they were able to restore power to 83 percent of the cooperative’s members. However, another 19,381 remained in the dark as of Friday, Sept. 10.
Other states assisting DEMCO include Oklahoma, Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia. Including contractors, 1,000 lineworkers are working to restore the hurricane-damaged power lines.
Electric cooperatives around the country participate in a mutual aid program that sends lineworkers from areas out of the path of a major storm into the areas that need help. Missouri co-op crews have traveled to several hurricane zones over the years, including the area served by DEMCO in 2012 after Hurricane Isaac made landfall. Their most recent hurricane help was last year when they helped Louisiana’s Beauregard Electric Cooperative after Hurricane Laura caused extensive damage.
The Missouri co-op crews report they are being treated like royalty by DEMCO and its members. They have been working in extreme heat and humidity, often in flooded areas where snakes and alligators can be a problem. However, they often return to their trucks to find drinks and snacks left by grateful members.
On Thursday, Sept. 9, DEMCO reported, “Damage to the system and service area is like nothing we've ever seen. Transmission and distribution infrastructure is severely damaged or obliterated in Ascension, Livingston, St. Helena, and Tangipahoa parishes. Extensive damage in areas makes it difficult to provide restoration estimates, but we are working to gather and share detailed information and updates as soon as we know it.”
During the major ice storms of 2009 in Missouri, Louisiana sent line workers to Missouri’s electric cooperatives to help repair the damage. This mutual assistance follows one of the seven cooperative principles, “Cooperation among Cooperatives.”
Missouri electric cooperatives sending help include:
• Barry Electric Cooperative, Cassville
• Barton Electric Cooperative, Lamar
• Black River Electric Cooperative, Fredericktown
• Boone Electric Cooperative, Columbia
• Callaway Electric Cooperative, Fulton
• Central Missouri Electric Cooperative, Sedalia
• Citizens Electric Corporation, Perryville
• Co-Mo Electric Cooperative, Tipton
• Consolidated Electric Cooperative, Mexico
• Crawford Electric Cooperative, Bourbon
• Cuivre River Electric Cooperative, Troy
• Farmers’ Electric Cooperative, Chillicothe
• Gascosage Electric Cooperative, Dixon
• Grundy Electric Cooperative, Trenton
• Laclede Electric Cooperative, Lebanon
• Lewis County Rural Electric Cooperative, Lewistown
• Macon Electric Cooperative, Macon
• Osage Valley Electric Cooperative, Butler
• Ozark Electric Cooperative, Mt. Vernon
• Ozark Border Electric Cooperative, Poplar Bluff
• Pemiscot-Dunklin Electric Cooperative, Hayti
• Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative, Kearney
• Ralls County Electric Cooperative, New London
• Sac Osage Electric Cooperative, El Dorado Springs
• SEMO Electric Cooperative, Sikeston
• Southwest Electric Cooperative, Bolivar
• Three Rivers Electric Cooperative, Linn
• Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Lancaster
• United Electric Cooperative, Maryville
• Webster Electric Cooperative, Marshfield
• West Central Electric Cooperative, Higginsville
• White River Valley Electric Cooperative, Branson
• Central Electric Power Cooperative, Jefferson City
• Sho-Me Power Electric Cooperative, Marshfield