News Archive

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!

Sho-Me Power has identified an issue in the Koshkonong substation. 380 members who currently have power will be shut off to make repairs. This outage is expected to last approximately 1-1/2 hours. Sho-Me Power crews will be working as quickly and safely as possible. Thank you for your patience during this time.

General Manager Dan Singletary provides an update on power outages: 98 additional linemen plus HOEC's own 35 = 133 pairs of boots on the ground today.

We made slow but steady progress today, however we still have more than 5,700 members without power. Crews worked to figure out where and what they needed to start making more progress tomorrow and that includes more assistance. These photos came in from Highway ZZ south of West Plains. This will still be a multi-day outage for many. Be safe and stay away from downed power lines!

HOEC Crews, including contractors and other co-ops, have been working to assess damage and begin the process to rebuild lines. These pictures are of some of the damage south of West Plains around highway 63. There are numerous poles on the ground and lines down. Due to the sheer amount of damage this will be a multi-day event for most. We have called for assistance, with some arriving today and the remainder to come tomorrow. Thank you for your patience.

General Manager Dan Singletary provides an update on power outages.

Two substations in the West Plains area were damaged from the tornado or tornado-like winds. The substation on south 63, south of Dairy Queen, had substantial damage and many poles blown over causing downed power lines and traffic issues on Highway 63. 1,743 members are without power who are served by this substation. The substation off JJ highway received damage and numerous poles have been toppled causing 1,479 members to lose power. There are also issues with the substation in Koshkonong leaving 988 members without power. Please stay away from downed power lines and stay safe.

We currently have 6,140 members without power after the tornado activity in our service area. During wide-spread outages dispatch is overwhelmed with calls and not all are able to get through. If you need to report an outage please use the SmartHub app for your phone or our SmartHub website.