Page 12
The INDEPENDENT, December 21, 2006
Power of the People
By W. Marc Farmer,
General Manager,
West Oregon Electric Cooperative
From page 1
B PA ,
PP&L,
and PGE
h a d
t r e e s
and lines
d o w n
that feed
power to
us. We cleared the transmis-
sion line from Vernonia to Tim-
ber, expecting our main substa-
tion to be energized so we
could get the majority of our
members up quickly, only to
find their crews working on get-
ting power to Tillamook, which
had a hospital, dairies, cream-
ery, and a lot more people
needing power quickly.
Instead, power was restored
at the opposite side of our area
from the BPA Warren substa-
tion. We had to redirect our ef-
fort to repair lines and service
from the Warren substation to
Chapman. Mist Substation was
energized in the meantime, and
when the crews were able to
repair all of the damaged lines,
Chapman Substation was re-
stored about 3:00 p.m. on Sat-
urday. Our crews, determined
to get power to Vernonia and
Timber Substations, worked
through the night in the dark,
cold, and fog to get power re-
stored by 4:05 a.m. to Vernon-
ia. Once the substation was re-
stored, then came the feeder
lines.
The Engineering and Opera-
tions Manager and I continued
to search for help from other
utilities and contractors. Most
were busy repairing their own
systems and contract crews
were already assigned to other
areas, most to Washington.
The first crew to be able to an-
swer our call for help came all
the way from Hermiston.
Umatilla EC sent a four-man
crew with three four-wheel
drive trucks to offer assistance.
They went right to work and
worked through the night with
our own crews to help restore
power and put up lines. Forest
Grove Light & Power sent
crews and trucks, followed by
Wasco EC in The Dalles, Co-
lumbia River PUD, Blachly
Lane EC in Eugene, and
Clatskanie PUD. Michels Pow-
er sent a six man “heavy gang”
crew and equipment to help us
with the big lines and poles. All
worked long hours and covered
as much territory as possible.
The going is slow in most areas
due to the magnitude of the
damage. Sleep is minimal or
non-existent as the crews con-
tinue to push as hard and long
as they can, knowing that
members have been without
power for days.
The inside staff has been ro-
tating around the clock, as the
phones are manned 24 hours a
day, to answer members calls
and questions. The frustration
is felt on both sides of the
phone as members want spe-
cific times when their power will
be restored and our staff, in a
lot of cases, is not able to pro-
vide them this information be-
cause we simply do not know
for sure. At first it was because
we did not know when we
would be receiving power from
BPA, PP&L, and PGE as they
worked diligently to get their
systems repaired.
Then it became a matter of
limited resources, manpower,
and hours in the day. The ex-
tent of the damage could not be
known until we actually arrived
at the site and in most areas it
was severe, which took longer
to repair. Crews who came to
help had to be divided and
paired with our Linemen so
they could be with someone
who knew the system, where
things were, and how it was
connected, and be able to com-
municate with one another with
our radio communications. The
radio communication is espe-
cially important for the safety of
the crews so they know when
someone else was working on
a line being energized. If they
were unaware of someone else
working on the line and it was
energized, people would be se-
riously injured or killed. It is a
very carefully orchestrated and
organized process of working
on and reenergizing electrical
lines.
The work continues and we
are working as long and hard
as possible while keeping the
safety of our staff and crews in
mind. This storm will prove to
be a very damaging, long, and
expensive one. As I stated ear-
lier, it will go down in our histo-
ry as one of the top three
storms. We feel for our mem-
bers who had to endure long
outages and inconveniences
that come with the loss of pow-
er. We assure you that we are
using every resource and effort
to get power to you as quickly
as is humanly possible. No ex-
503-429-0280
Basic Auto Repair
Specializing in Brakes & Light Auto Repair
Oil Change Special $19.95
most cars & trucks - up to 5 quarts
Transmission service
Rotor and
Open Monday thru Friday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
drum machine
Saturday & Sunday call for appointment
on site
62481 Nehalem Hwy 47 North, next to Spartree Restaurant
pense is being spared and the
staff and crews here are giving
all they have to the goal of
restoring power to our mem-
bers. It is and has been a long
and difficult event for all of us,
and we sincerely appreciate
everyone’s patience and sup-
port throughout this ordeal.
Above, this piece of equipment should be attached to a pow-
er pole, not hanging from downed lines out on Keasey Road.
Below, Pebble Creek Rd. had it all; downed power lines, dam-
aged power poles and fallen trees. Scenes like these were
common throughout the area after the windstorm that hit on
December 14.