May 7, 2012 For Immediate Release   CONTACT:   Sid Sperry Director of Public Relations, Communications & Research – Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives 2325 East I-44 Service Road, Oklahoma City, OK 73111   PHONE:   Mobile: 405-627-7754 Office Direct: 405-607-0160   E-MAIL:   Work: sksperry@oaec.coop Home: SidneySperry@Yahoo.com   DATE:   May 7, 2012         Kay Electric Cooperative, located in Blackwell, Okla., safely restored power to most residential accounts this weekend. Crews will continue to work throughout the week to restore outages to commercial and industrial accounts. Photos by Austin Partida, Kay Electric Cooperative   OKLAHOMA CITY – Kay Electric Cooperative (KEC), located in Blackwell, Okla., continued restoration and repair efforts through the weekend after a series of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes ripped through the cooperative’s service territory on April 30 and May 1. KEC’s Member Service Representative, Austin Partida, reports the bulk of the remaining 400 outages for its member-consumers were safely restored on Sunday, May 6 around 6:30 p.m. As of 10 a.m. today, there were approximately 10 residential accounts without power. The four other local electric cooperatives’ crews that assisted KEC’s restoration efforts through last week went home this morning. KEC’s crews, along with four contractor crews, will work throughout the week to restore power to approximately 200 commercial and industrial accounts, and other remaining services such as water wells, oil and gas fields, and fence chargers. The crews will also conduct clean up efforts through the next few weeks. “We appreciate everyone’s patience and support during this last week. Our crews have worked diligently to safely restore power to all of our member-consumers, and we will continue to work hard this week to ensure every KEC account is taken care of,” Partida said. More updates will be provided as new information becomes available. Check local websites for additional information: www.oaec.coop and www.ok-living.coop. Also check KEC’s website at http://www.kayelectric.coop       May 4, 2012 For Immediate Release   CONTACT:   Sid Sperry Director of Public Relations, Communications & Research – Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives 2325 East I-44 Service Road, Oklahoma City, OK 73111   PHONE:   Mobile: 405-627-7754 Office Direct: 405-607-0160   E-MAIL:   Work: sksperry@oaec.coop Home: SidneySperry@Yahoo.com   DATE:   May 4, 2012           Crews continue day four of restoration efforts on Kay Electric Cooperative’s service territory. All residential accounts that remain without power are expected to be back on this weekend. Photos by Austin Partida, Kay Electric Cooperative   OKLAHOMA CITY - Crews of lineworkers continue day four of restoration and repair efforts after a round of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes ripped through the western part of Kay Electric Cooperative’s (KEC) service territory on Monday night. As of 3 p.m. today, Kay Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Blackwell, OK, reports a little more than 400 member-consumers remain without power in the Medford, Lamont, Deer Creek and Tonkawa areas. KEC’s Member Service Representative, Austin Partida, reports most outages in Pond Creek have been restored, but there is still a substantial amount of damage on Highway 11 between Medford and Deer Creek. KEC’s Operations Department estimates approximately 640 poles were destroyed as a result of the storms. Transmission lines around the Hohmann Substation have been down, but crews are making steady progress on bringing the lines back up. The Hohmann Substation sustained significant damage as well. Since Tuesday morning, crews have been spread out through the western part of the KEC service territory replacing poles and re-energizing power lines. With much of the restoration efforts successfully completed, KEC reports crews are likely to concentrate their repair efforts on the Hohmann Substation and its feeder lines this evening and through the weekend. KEC’s crews, plus crews from four other nearby electric co-ops, and four contractor crews have been working tirelessly through the week and will continue to work through the weekend to restore power to KEC’s member-consumers. KEC expects to have power restored to all residential accounts by sometime Sunday. Some of KEC’s commercial and industrial accounts are expected to have power back on by early next week. More updates will be provided as new information becomes available. Check local websites for additional information: www.oaec.coop and www.ok-living.coop. Also check KEC’s website at http://www.kayelectric.coop       May 3, 2012 For Immediate Release   CONTACT:   Sid Sperry Director of Public Relations, Communications & Research – Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives 2325 East I-44 Service Road, Oklahoma City, OK 73111   PHONE:   Mobile: 405-627-7754 Office Direct: 405-607-0160   E-MAIL:   Work: sksperry@oaec.coop Home: SidneySperry@Yahoo.com   DATE:   May 3, 2012     OKLAHOMA CITY – Kay Electric Cooperative (KEC), headquartered in Blackwell, OK, continues day three of restoration and repair efforts after a round of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes ripped through the western part of its service territory on Monday night. As of 11 a.m. today, KEC’s Member Service Representative, Austin Partida, reports 500 member-consumers remain without power around Medford, Deer Creek, Lamont Tonkawa and Pond Creek. KEC’s crews, four Oklahoma electric co-ops crews, and four contractor crews will continue to work through the weekend to restore power to member-consumers. KEC expects to have power restored to all residential accounts by Sunday. Some of KEC’s commercial and industrial accounts are expected to have power back on by early next week. The heart of outages remains around the Hohmann Substation, west of Deer Creek. The flooding that originally caused delays on the restoration efforts has improved significantly with a lot of the water receding in the last two days. With favorable weather conditions, crews have made significant progress to safely restore power to KEC’s member-consumers through the week. More updates will be provided as new information becomes available. Check local websites for additional information: www.oaec.coop and www.ok-living.coop. Also check KEC’s website at http://www.kayelectric.coop       May 2, 2012 For Immediate Release   CONTACT:   Sid Sperry Director of Public Relations, Communications & Research – Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives 2325 East I-44 Service Road, Oklahoma City, OK 73111   PHONE:   Mobile: 405-627-7754 Office Direct: 405-607-0160   E-MAIL:   Work: sksperry@oaec.coop Home: SidneySperry@Yahoo.com   DATE:   May 2, 2012           Kay Electric Cooperative, located in Blackwell, OK, continues restoration efforts on its service territory after a round of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes hit northern Oklahoma on Monday night. Photos by Austin Partida, Kay Electric Cooperative   OKLAHOMA CITY – Kay Electric Cooperative (KEC), headquartered in Blackwell, OK, continues restoration and repair efforts today after a round of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes that hit northern Oklahoma on Monday night. As of 1 p.m. today, KEC’s Member Service Representative, Austin Partida, reports there are 900 member-consumers without power in the Lamont, Medford and Deer Creek areas. Although KEC’s crews – along with crews from four other rural electric cooperatives and four contractor crews – are making progress in the restoration efforts, approximately 600 poles have not been replaced and more damaged areas have been found. “As we replace five broken poles, 20 more will be found elsewhere,” said KEC’s Director of Operations David Reser. KEC reports most of the damage is in between the Hohmann Substation and Medford, a stretch of eight miles. A two-mile stretch northeast of Pond Creek is also significantly damaged. Transmission lines remain down around the Hohmann Substation, west of Deer Creek. Flooding and muddy roads in damaged areas are still causing some delays on the restoration efforts as crews have been instructed to maintain safety precautions. KEC expects to safely restore power to all affected member-consumers in 2 to 4 days. With favorable weather conditions, crews are working tirelessly to restore power in a safe and timely manner. More updates will be provided as new information becomes available. Check local websites for additional information: www.oaec.coop and www.ok-living.coop. Also check KEC’s website at http://www.kayelectric.coop       May 1, 2012 For Immediate Release   CONTACT:   Sid Sperry Director of Public Relations, Communications & Research – Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives 2325 East I-44 Service Road, Oklahoma City, OK 73111   PHONE:   Mobile: 405-627-7754 Office Direct: 405-607-0160   E-MAIL:   Work: sksperry@oaec.coop Home: SidneySperry@Yahoo.com   DATE:   May 1, 2012     OKLAHOMA CITY – Kay Electric Cooperative (KEC), headquartered in Blackwell, OK, maintains restoration and repair efforts this afternoon after last night’s round of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. Other rural electric cooperatives including Alfalfa Electric Cooperative, Cherokee; Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, Vinita; and Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative are conducting restoration efforts throughout the day and working to safely restore power to all affected member-consumers by late this evening or by tomorrow morning. As of 4 p.m. today, KEC’s Member Service Representative, Austin Partida, reports there are 1,600 member-consumers without power and 600 poles destroyed. KEC’s crews – along with crews from four other rural electric cooperatives and four contractor crews – have been accessing the damage on KEC’s service territory throughout the day and are reporting more damage than initially anticipated. KEC reports some repairs have been made around Blackwell and Tonkawa, but more damaged areas have been found near Pond Creek and Lamont. Transmission lines are down around the Hohmann Substation, west of Deer Creek, and in the Tonkawa area. Extensive flooding in damaged areas prevents crews to advance in the restoration efforts. “We are all hands on deck now,” Partida said. “We’re working hard to safely restore power to KEC’s member-consumers as fast as we can. We appreciated everyone’s patience and understanding.” Crews will be instructed to conclude efforts for the day by early evening and will continue restoration efforts at 6 a.m. tomorrow. KEC does not have an estimated time of restoration as of this afternoon. More updates will be provided as new information becomes available. Check local websites for additional information: www.oaec.coop and www.ok-living.coop. Also check KEC’s website at http://www.kayelectric.coop       May 1, 2012 For Immediate Release   CONTACT:   Sid Sperry Director of Public Relations, Communications & Research – Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives 2325 East I-44 Service Road, Oklahoma City, OK 73111   PHONE:   Mobile: 405-627-7754 Office Direct: 405-607-0160   E-MAIL:   Work: sksperry@oaec.coop Home: SidneySperry@Yahoo.com   DATE:   May 1, 2012           Severe thunderstorms and two tornadoes hit northern Oklahoma on April 30 and May 1 causing distribution electric cooperatives significant damage. These pictures were taken from Kay Electric Cooperative’s service territory affected areas in Grant, Kay and Garfield counties. Photos by Austin Partida, Kay Electric Cooperative   OKLAHOMA CITY – Two electric distribution cooperatives sustained considerable damage from a round of severe thunderstorms and two tornadoes that hit northern Oklahoma last night. Kay Electric Cooperative (KEC), headquartered in Blackwell, OK, and Alfalfa Electric Cooperative (AEC), headquartered in Cherokee, OK, are conducting restoration efforts through today and the next few days. Western Farmers Electric Cooperative, a generation and transmission electric cooperative headquartered in Anadarko, OK reports $215,000 in damage in Grant County and $15,000 in damages in Alfalfa County. Other rural electric cooperatives including Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, Vinita, and Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative, Collinsville, are repairing outages this morning due to last night’s storms. As of 9 a.m. today, KEC’s Member Service Representative, Austin Partida, reports KEC has an estimate of approximately 600 poles destroyed. The damage path extends to the western one-third of KEC’s service territory from Medford, Lamont, Deer Creek, Tonkawa, and Blackwell, covering areas in Grant, Kay and Garfield counties. The Hohmann Substation west of Deer Creek, and the Blackwell Substation sustained significant damage and remain without power this morning. KEC reports nearly 1,500 outages as of 9 a.m. KEC’s service territory received approximately 13 inches of rain in the last five days, causing many roads to be flooded. KEC reports dispatched crews are maintaining safety precautions in the field as they are trying to access damaged areas. The extensive flooding and muddy roads produce obstacles to crews that are working to safely restore power to KEC’s member-consumers. Crews from four neighboring electric cooperatives are assisting KEC through the OAEC Mutual Aid Plan. Those co-ops providing assistance are: Canadian Valley Electric Cooperative, Seminole; Central Rural Electric Cooperative, Stillwater; Cimarron Electric Cooperative, Kingfisher; and Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, Norman. Indian Electric Cooperative, Cleveland remains on standby and will assist as soon as the need arises. Three contractor crews and one local contractor crew are also assisting with the repairs and restoration efforts that will take place in the next few days. KEC does not have an estimated time of restoration as of this morning. Alfalfa Electric Cooperative’s Manager of Operations, Ron Shafer, reports 35 poles destroyed in the Walkita, OK area west of Medford. AEC reports 200 member-consumers are currently experiencing outages. AEC expects to safely restore power to all member-consumers by late this evening. As of 9 a.m. today, Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Vinita, reports 38 current outages affecting 519 member-consumers. Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Collinsville, reports 619 outages. More updates will be provided as new information becomes available. Check local websites for additional information: www.oaec.coop and www.ok-living.coop. Also check rural electric cooperatives’ websites: Alfalfa Electric Cooperative: http://www.alfalfaelectric.coop Kay Electric Cooperative: http://www.kayelectric.coop Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative: http://www.neelectric.com Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative: http://www.vvec.com       April 16, 2012 For Immediate Release   CONTACT:   Sid Sperry Director of Public Relations, Communications & Research – Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives 2325 East I-44 Service Road, Oklahoma City, OK 73111   PHONE:   Mobile: 405-627-7754 Office Direct: 405-607-0160   E-MAIL:   Work: sksperry@oaec.coop Home: SidneySperry@Yahoo.com   DATE:   April 16, 2012     OKLAHOMA CITY – Electric cooperatives located in the central, northern and northwestern part of the state continued efforts through the weekend to restore electric service following a series of damaging – and deadly – tornadoes that began Friday afternoon, April 13, and continued through the early Sunday morning hours of April 15. Oklahoma Electric Cooperative (OEC), Norman, has now restored electric service to all members who can safely received power following outages from a tornado that hit parts of west Norman and central parts of the city shortly after 4:00 p.m. on Friday, April 13. According to OEC operations manager, Randy Simmons, the cooperative lost a total of 37 distribution line structures and various other components of electric power line equipment. Alfalfa Electric Cooperative (AEC), Cherokee, has local crews and contractor crews working to restore the last of their residential outages this morning. Only about 10 residential members remain without service, after more than 5,000 meters went dark following twin tornadoes that struck in the Dacoma, Carmen, Lambert, Cherokee, Driftwood, Byron, Amorita and Manchester areas. AEC officials currently estimate that at least 88 distribution structures were destroyed in the Saturday evening tornado outbreak. Northwestern Electric Cooperative (NWEC), Woodward, incurred considerable damage to its distribution power line system early Sunday morning, April 15, when a midnight “stovepipe” tornado ripped through the west edge of Woodward, OK, killing 6 individuals. As of 9:00 a.m. Monday morning, approximately 800 member-consumers remain without power on the NWEC system, nearly all of whom are located in Ellis County. NWEC crews have been assisted by three other rural electric cooperatives which have provided mutual aid assistance. They are Cimarron Electric Cooperative, Kingfisher; Kay Electric Cooperative, Blackwell; and Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Hooker. Several contractor crews have also assisted NWEC in their restoration efforts. NWEC officials report at least 75 structures were destroyed by the tornado, along with at least 10 transformers and other power line equipment. NWEC’s Arnett substation is still offline at this time, but should be re-energized by midnight tonight, thus restoring power to the majority of the 800 members who are currently without electricity. Western Farmers Electric Cooperative (WFEC), an Anadarko-based generation and transmission power supplier to 19 electric cooperatives in Oklahoma and four New Mexico electric cooperatives, was also hard hit by the weekend tornadoes. WFEC officials are currently reporting at least 26 high-voltage transmission line structures as heavily damaged or destroyed due to the tornadoes that occurred on Friday, Saturday and early Sunday. WFEC crews are working to make repairs to at least seven structures on the Arnett to Fargo tap line, which would allow the Arnett substation to be re-energized, hopefully by late Monday night. WFEC also has one structure to repair on the Woodward to Fort Supply transmission line, seven structures to rebuild on the Eagle Chief to Cherokee transmission line, and four structures to repair on the Cherokee to Nash transmission line, although all substations in the Alfalfa Electric Cooperative service area have been restored to service. More updates will be provided as new information becomes available. Check local web sites for additional information: www.oaec.coop and www.ok-living.coop       April 15, 2012 For Immediate Release   CONTACT:   Sid Sperry Director of Public Relations, Communications & Research – Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives 2325 East I-44 Service Road, Oklahoma City, OK 73111   PHONE:   Mobile: 405-627-7754 Office Direct: 405-607-0160   E-MAIL:   Work: sksperry@oaec.coop Home: SidneySperry@Yahoo.com   DATE:   April 15, 2012           Looking east towards the destroyed H-structure. Tornado damage off of 34th Street in Woodward. The tornado snapped this H-structure into several pieces. Tornado damage off of 34th Street in Woodward. A closer look at the H-structure. Tornado damage off of 34th Street in Woodward. Photos by Jonna Hensley Northwestern Electric Co-op   OKLAHOMA CITY – Two electric distribution cooperatives and one generation-transmission cooperative sustained considerable damage last night and this morning following devastating tornadoes that hit northern and northwestern Oklahoma. A fourth electric cooperative has restored power to nearly all member-consumers affected by a tornado that hit the Norman, OK, area late Friday afternoon, April 13. Alfalfa Electric Cooperative (AEC), headquartered in Cherokee, OK, has restored electric service to most member-consumers this afternoon after at least two tornadoes tore through the co-op service area Saturday evening. A damage path extended from near Dacoma to Lamber, Ingersoll to Cherokee, and included damage in the Driftwood, Byron, Amorita, and Manchester areas. AEC general manager, Max Ott, reports that approximately 60 poles were destroyed due to the twisters. At one point, at least 5 electrical substations were without power, affecting more than 5,000 member-consumers. Northwestern Electric Cooperative (NWEC), located in Woodward, OK, was also impacted by one and possibly two tornadoes that took the lives of at least 5 people early Sunday morning. More than 75 distribution structures have been destroyed on the NWEC system, mainly in the west Woodward and Tangier, OK, areas. Two substations served by Western Farmers Electric Cooperative (WFEC) remain without power at this time, due to considerable high-voltage transmission line damage in the Arnett to Fargo, and Fargo to Woodward areas. More than 3,000 NWEC members are affected by this outage. NWEC CEO, Tyson Littau, estimated that while some power could be restored by late tonight, the majority of those affected may not have electric service until sometime Monday, or Tuesday at the latest. Crews from three neighboring electric cooperatives are assisting NWEC through the OAEC Mutual Aid Plan. Those co-ops providing assistance are: Cimarron Electric Cooperative, Kingfisher; Kay Electric Cooperative, Blackwell; and Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Hooker. NWEC has all available crews dispatched to make repairs, along with several contractor construction crews. Western Farmers Electric Cooperative (WFEC), a wholesale provider of electric power to 19 electric cooperatives in Oklahoma and four New Mexico cooperatives, also incurred considerable damage to the high-voltage transmission system serving the AEC and NWEC systems. WFEC personnel have found at least 11 heavily damaged or destroyed structures in the AEC service area, and at least 14 destroyed high-voltage structures in the NWEC service area. Repairs to tap lines in the NWEC service area will have to be completed before the two WFEC substations currently out of service can be re-energized. WFEC personnel estimate that most repairs could be completed by Tuesday. At approximately 4:00 p.m. Friday, April 13, a tornado skirted through parts of the Norman, OK, based Oklahoma Electric Cooperative service area. OEC crews worked through the night Friday and throughout the day Saturday to rebuild damaged distribution lines and services. Most OEC member-consumers had power restored late Saturday, with some commercial services restored by mid-day Sunday. A few remaining individual outages exits, but will need repairs to consumer facilities before OEC personnel can safely restore power. Collectively, more than 200 distribution poles and at least 30 high-voltage transmission line structures were destroyed on electric cooperative lines over the three day tornado outbreak. More than 15,000 member-consumers were impacted at the height of the outages. More updates will be provided as new information becomes available. Check local web sites for additional information: www.oaec.coop and www.ok-living.coop