New River Electrical Corporation was one of the many utility contractors that answered the call when Oklahoma suffered its worst power outage in the states’ history. Mr. Ike Poe, a project manager in our Overhead Transmission and Distribution department, wrote about New River’s experience in the following article from the corporate newsletter. On Monday December 10th AEP called requesting overhead line crews to assist them in system restoration due to damages from an ice storm that lingered several days in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area. At first AEP was requesting our Columbus based line crews but after further assessments requested our central Ohio based Co-op crews as well. General Foreman Robert Dorsey arranged all of his Columbus based crews while General Foremen Matt Gibeaut and Josh Hopkins obtained releases and dispersed their Co-op crews. By Monday afternoon NRE obtained releases for a total of 21 overhead line crews, totaling 81 men and were in route for Tulsa. After another round of ice precipitation Monday night AEP had an estimated 300,000 customers out of power in the Tulsa area. 811 miles later NRE’s 21 crews arrived in Tulsa early Wednesday morning ready to get to work focusing on “getting the lights back on.” With wide-spread damage to our mid-western states due to this storm it is unclear how long the restoration process will take however, it is clear that New River Electrical will once again play a vital role in restoring power to thousands of homes and businesses. I want to personally express another “job-well-done” to all of our line crews for their speedy response as well as wish all of them a safe return.
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