In June, the TCEC service area experienced three thunderstorms with straight-line winds near or greater than 80 mph.

“TCEC’s service area has had an unusually high occurrence of severe straight-line winds this year,” said Austin Buschman, staking manager.

TCEC CEO Zac Perkins said, “Our crews have worked tirelessly to safely restore power following all three storms. We’d like to thank Northwestern Electric Cooperative of Woodward and the contractor crews from T&R, JCL and Current who helped us. They made timely restoration of service possible for our members.”

On Sunday, June 13, the Cimarron County area was hit hard. Approximately 1,600 meters in Cimarron County were without power at the peak of the outages. Towns affected included Boise City, Felt, Kenton and part of the community of Griggs. TCEC lost 51 distribution poles due to wind. Four transmission poles were also damaged. The transmission poles are owned by GridLiance High Plains, an electric transmission utility, and were repaired by TCEC, its operations and maintenance provider.

On Thursday, June 24, another thunderstorm in Beaver County damaged about 60 distribution poles. Approximately 45 transmission poles owned by GridLiance High Plains were also damaged. Repairs to the transmission poles continue with completion expected by July 7. Approximately 700 meters from Balko to Bryan’s Corner were off at the peak of the outages. Most meters had power restored within 12 hours. The storm caused other smaller outages throughout the service area from Boise City to Forgan. TCEC’s three crews and one contractor crew worked through the night to restore power.

On Friday, June 25, the Texas County area was hit with straight-line winds. About 50 distribution poles were damaged in the area of Tyrone, Baker and Adams. Around 800 meters were off at the peak of the outages. It took almost 24 hours to restore power to everyone. Scattered outages occurred across the service area. Eight crews with over 50 lineworkers responded to restore power.

“Members were patient and supportive of TCEC’s efforts during the outage situations,” Perkins said. “We can’t thank them enough.”