News Archive

Red Flag Warning continues. Please do NOT burn storm debris yet as dry conditions, low humidity and gusty winds could lead to fires quickly getting out of control.

General Manager Dan Singletary provides an update on power outages as of Tuesday morning, March 18th. Yesterday power was restored to more than 2,000 members.

HOEC and assisting crews (see photos below) from Co-Mo, Grundy, Osage Valley, United, West Central and White River Valley Electric Cooperatives, as well as KIOWA and Arkansas Electric contractors, worked from sun up until well after sun down setting and framing poles, hanging wire and getting power restored. We started the day with 3,990 members still in the dark and now have just more than 1,900.

HOEC Linemen and assisting crews were up before the sun to get their trucks loaded and ready for the day. Two semi loads of new poles waited patiently just outside the gate. It was a busy morning with the buzz of anticipation for the day. Thank you for your support and patience as we navigate through this outage. Always stay away from downed power lines.

We are under a Red Flag Warning today, which may extend through this week. Please do NOT burn storm debris yet as dry conditions, low humidity and gusty winds could lead to fires getting out of control in a hurry.

General Manager Dan Singletary provides an update on power outages as of Monday morning, March 17th. At this time we are down to about 3,990 remaining without power.

Since the start of the outage on Friday night, linemen have restored power to around 2,000 members and the number left tonight is about 4,300 members without power. Crews worked long hours today and will be back out early in the morning. Thank you for your patience and support during this time.

As you've heard us say, some of the transmission lines were damaged by the storms as well. These are the big lines that carry the power to the substations to provide energy to our members. Our energy provider has been in the area working on those repairs, as well as more than 100 additional linemen to assist.

Crews assisting us are loading poles to get out in the service area and get them in the ground! 280 poles need to be replaced. Setting and framing utility poles takes a minimum of 3-4 hours so there is a lot of work ahead.

This graphic shows the steps we take to restore power. With co-ops and contract crews who have sent help, we have almost 100 outside linemen plus all HOEC personnel working in the area. Not all will be in red trucks, but there are a lot of them out there!