OAKDALE, WI – On Thursday, December 15, 2022, a snowstorm producing heavy wet snow effected Oakdale Electric Cooperative’s (OEC) overhead powerlines due to excess weight on lines from snow and downed trees. OEC’s five-county service territory had outage reports with highest outage count being in Monroe and Juneau counties. Beginning at 2:00 a.m., OEC crews were dispatched to begin power restoration.
Crews worked diligently and safely as trees continued to fall and outage numbers increased. At the height of the event, approximately 5,000 members were without power. With a tornado event impacting OEC’s membership six months prior to-the-date with 7,081 members without power, each weather event has its difficulties. “The tornadoes took a lot of construction to repair but was in a more precise section of our territory,” stated Operations Supervisor John Ollendick. He went onto say, “this snowstorm was across our entire territory and trees continued to fall, making it difficult to stay ahead on power restoration.”
Two additional crews were called in through the cooperative’s mutual assistance program known as ROPE – Restoration of Power in an Emergency. Jo-Carroll Energy (Elizabeth, Illinois) sent four journeymen linemen to aid in power restoration. Zielies Tree Service assisted in tree removal to clear paths for linemen to access power equipment.
As falling trees and branches leveled off on Friday, December 16, crews fully restored power at approximately 3:00 a.m. Saturday, December 17, 2022, to members with a primary residence with OEC.
“We are thankful to have cooperatives like Jo-Carroll Energy that could spare crews to assist in power restoration, just as co-ops were built on principles – Cooperation Among Cooperatives was showcased,” stated General Manager & CEO Chris Tackmann. He added, “We are proud to have a membership that extends their gratitude during times of emergency and I wish all our members a very happy holiday.”