RGEC says no power until Tuesday. Crews working hard, more on the way

By The Big Bend Gazette On January 4, 2015

A statement from Dan Laws CEO of Rio Grande Electric issued at 6 PM Sunday, Jan. 4:

“We have received calls from members stating that someone has told them that power will be restored this afternoon. Unfortunately, that is not true. I hate that people will start rumors like that. We are still estimating that it will be Tuesday, January 6, before power will be restored.

I was on location today and can report there are five crews working to restore power. In the morning there will be 7 crews working. As I am sure some are aware, AEP has several lines down, including the line from our switching station to Alpine. Oncor, in the Midland Odessa area, has lines down, and Texas New Mexico, serving in and around Fort Stockto, has lines down. In my travels today I have seen contractor crews working for AEP and Texas New Mexico making line repairs to their facilities.

I mention that simply to make the point that RGEC and its members are not the only ones that have been affected by this winter storm. RGEC is not the only electric utility that has lost lines during this storm and RGEC is not the only electric utility still making repairs. We have had a number of members affected by this line make all kinds of crazy accusations when they call in to ask for a status update. They say things like they have been by RGEC’s transmission line, and no one is working on the line. Folks that say that either don’t see well, don’t really know where the transmission line is, or are simply being less than truthful.

The muddy conditions pose the greatest problem for us right now. We have two dozers on location to pull trucks up and down the line and clear right of way, but it makes for slow going. While on location, the contractor working for AEP asked the rancher where we are replacing poles if he would use his maintainer to pull them through the mud. Please know that we are all having problems.

I don’t want anyone to be misled. We will restore power as quickly as possible, but I would careless for me to tell it will happen sooner than Tuesday afternoon. The good news is we may catch a break and it will happen sooner, but the reverse is true also, a worsening of the conditions could delay resolving this problem.”