FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | JANUARY 3, 2024
Outage update from Cass County Electric Cooperative (CCEC)
FARGO, N.D. — Today, we are pleased to report that significant progress has been made in restoring power to our members. More than 4,600 members have been affected since the afternoon of December 25. Around 480 members are still without power as of 8 a.m. today. Our hearts go out to all those who have been patiently waiting since Christmas, and we want to assure them that we are working diligently to restore their power as quickly and safely as possible. We prioritize line repairs and pole replacements that get the most members back on.
The recent storm caused extensive damage, resulting in outages starting Monday, December 25, and going through Thursday, December 28. Our line crews faced a challenging task, as the repairs could not keep up with the damage being caused by the weather. Our power supplier, Minnkota Power, was also experiencing system damage to transmission lines and inside of substations. Mutual aid crews from neighboring electric cooperatives started arriving on Wednesday, December 27. It was not unl Friday, December 29, when most ice finally melted off our lines.
Our employees had nearly 3,000 miles of overhead power line to patrol and assess for damage. Since December 25, our CCEC vehicles alone have driven over an estimated 54,000 miles to report, record, and repair these issues. We have more than 1,100 broken poles, and over 460 of them have been replaced. Power control technicians continue to work around the clock to assess damage and work on solutions to bring as many members back on as soon as possible.
We have 85 mutual aid lineworkers from 14 different North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota cooperatives, our entire crew of 30 lineworkers, an office full of support staff, dozens of field workers, and hundreds of additional pieces of equipment and vehicles working to repair the lines and get our members on as soon as we are physically able. Our engineers estimate a full system restoral of active accounts by the end of the weekend.
Restoring electricity after an outage is a multifaceted process that can be affected by factors such as bad weather, road conditions, and equipment disruptions. If you're interested in learning more about how our lineworkers handle outage restoration, we invite you to read the lineworker’s timeline in our latest edition of Highline Notes.
To report outages, call the IVR system at 701-356-4400. Our systems will recognize the phone number and tie it to the account.
Please use our outage viewer for the most up-to-date and accurate outage information. Users can sort by county, view predicted/verified status, change their base map, add radar overlays, and more.
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About Cass County Electric Cooperative
Headquartered in Fargo, N.D., Cass County Electric is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric distribution cooperative serving nearly 58,000 services in a 10-county area in southeastern North Dakota. Cass County Electric Cooperative has five service centers in Fargo, Kindred, Valley City, Lisbon, and Arthur, North Dakota. Cass County Electric Cooperative's wholesale power supplier is Minnkota Power Cooperative.
For more information, contact:
Paul Matthys, VP of Member and Energy Services
pmatthys@kwh.com
701-356-4511
Jocelyn Hovland, Manager of Communications
701-356-4526
jhovland@kwh.com
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