Early Monday morning about 200 utility workers fanned out across Vermont Electric Cooperative’s (VEC) service territory to repair damage that left thousands of VEC members without power. During the course of this outage event caused by Tropical Storm Irene, over 8,000 VEC accounts lost power.
At 11:00 a.m. about 3,300 VEC members waited for power restoration. Most customers will have electricity by the end of Monday. The remaining outages are likely to be restored on Tuesday with some lingering into the middle of the week. This is because heavy rains and flooding are making it difficult for crews to reach some outages. As flooding recedes and roads are reopened, it will become easier to reach damaged electric lines and equipment.
Utility crews from local municipalities to an electric cooperative as far away as Michigan reported early Monday morning to VEC’s headquarters and district offices to help VEC line workers and tree crews. As VEC’s system recovers, they will be able to move on and provide much needed assistance to other hard hit electric utilities in Vermont and other parts of New England.
‘Restoring power safely is VEC’s top priority,’ said Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wright. ‘The outpouring of support from utility workers in areas that weren’t hit by Irene has helped us to move expeditiously as well. We are fortunate that we weren’t impacted like the southern part of Vermont and when our restoration is complete and we are happy to help out if needed.’
VEC’s member service staff is working around the clock to provide support to customers until all outages are restored. Outages should be reported by calling 1-800-832-2667.
For more information please visit VEC’s website at www.vermontelectric.coop/outage.
Vermont Electric Coop restores power to most customers
Submitted by tim
on