News Archive

Happy Veteran's Day! Thank you for the sacrifices and contributions of those who have served and are serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. We are fortunate to have these veterans on our team at HOEC. Thank you for your service - John, Kyle, Mike, Stace and Scott (not pictured)!

At this time, we have all primary residences and businesses back on from the outage caused by the flooding earlier this week. We will be completing the work at seasonal cabins beginning next week. Some of the creeks and rivers in our eastern counties, crested higher than they did in the 2017 flood. In the western part of our service area, it seemed to be almost as bad as 2017.

Howell-Oregon Electric Cooperative (HOEC) made a donation to the Wreaths Across America program. Presenting the check are veterans employed at HOEC. Left to Right: Kyle Willard, John Ogles and Scott Ward, presented the donation to Ozark Spring Chapter, NSDAR (National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution) of West Plains.

We currently have 32 members remaining without power due to the flooding. This weather event caused us to have around 40 poles broken or unearthed. Replacing a pole in good conditions takes a little time and during this event our linemen have been faced with high water and lots of mud. Some areas are just now becoming accessible due to water and mud and some are still only accessible by track machine or UTV. White River Valley Electric Cooperative is coming to help in the western part of our service area today and bringing machinery to help get to those hard to reach places.

Mud and water… those were the sights for our linemen working outages today. We started this morning with 168 out of power and are now down to 56… Slow and steady, working to get poles replaced and wires restrung to get the power flowing. Thank you all our members for your patience during this time.

These pictures show our linemen out today in areas where the water has receded. They are still having to work through mud and water, making things slow but steady. Some places are only accessible by UTV as seen in these pictures from the Hodgson Mill area near Dora.

While work continues, it is a slow process through the water and mud. The photos above and below depict some of the conditions our linemen are facing with the recent flooding. There were many areas that were/are inaccessible but some areas our linemen made it to despite the water (where it was safe)! Thank you for your patience.

Crews have made progress in the restoration of power to our members. We started the day with around 370 members out and that number is down to 247. With that being said, the progress is slow and steady. There is still high water and LOTS of mud and damage. Some roads remain treacherous, making it difficult to get the trucks and supplies to where they are needed. If you need to report a continued outage, you may check the status on your smart phone through the SmartHub app or on our website. You can also call 417-256-2131 or 888-HOE-POWER.

Hammonds Bridge yesterday. Unfortunately some of our members are still without power due to high water. Crews are working again today to restore service. Thank you for your patience.

Crews made progress today, however there are still members without power and unfortunately those poles and breakers are inaccessible due to high water. If you don't already have power, you should make alternate arrangements for tonight. Hopefully the water will recede and repairs can be completed tomorrow. Thank you for your patience.