Power companies prepare for weekend snowstorm

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) — Power companies across Kentucky are coordinating plans on where to place linemen ahead of this weekend’s projected snowstorm.

Kentucky Electric Cooperative and KU are communicating with partners about strategic positioning of crews to maintain power and restore outages quickly.

Joe Arnold with Kentucky Electric Cooperative said the organization has been in contact with other electric cooperatives across the state and region.

“Our co-ops have been in contact with each other as well as co-ops from other states to try to get a gauge of what we think here,” Arnold said.

However, Arnold said companies cannot commit to specific response plans yet because weather forecasts may change.

“Right now no one can commit to any request to respond in advance because you don’t know how this forecast is going to be applied to reality and how it might shift in the next 48 to 72 hours,” he said.

Rural areas face challenges

Kentucky Electric Cooperative supports 24 local distribution cooperatives across the state, including Clark Energy and Jackson Energy. Those 24 cooperatives serve 1.8 million consumer members, many in rural areas that can be difficult to reach during storms.

“Co-ops serve the last mile that means the most remote and the area that is often difficult to access even on a blue sky day or much more difficult on a storm day,” Arnold said.

KU serves 500,000 people across 77 counties. Daniel Lowry, a KU spokesperson, said the utility has resources ready to respond.

“With our line technicians and our contractors and our business partners we have about 500 line technicians and support personnel,” Lowry said.

“We have more than 40 crew centers across our service territory they are staffed with equipment and folks that are ready to respond,” he said.

Arnold recommends residents prepare emergency kits with batteries, flashlights and non-perishable items in case of power outages.

Arnold said he hopes for powdery snow rather than wet snow, which could pile up on electric lines and weigh them down, causing power outages.

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