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1,500 Consumers Lose Power in Weekend Storms
TALLADEGA, Ala. - An estimated 1,500 Coosa Valley Electric Cooperative consumers
lost power in storms that passed through the area Sunday night.
While damage was spread through east Shelby, south St. Clair and north Talladega
counties, the largest number of outages was reported in the New London community.
Strong winds and tennis-ball-sized hail knocked several large trees onto power
lines, blew transformers and downed power poles. Two of the downed poles carried
three-phase or main transmission lines, which contributed to the large number
of outages.
In the Ohatchee and Lincoln areas, numerous isolated outages occurred when lightening
blew cutoff switches. A cutoff switch is essentially a fuse-based device designed
to prevent widespread outages when lines are struck by lightening or crossed
by tree limbs or other debris.
CVEC Operations Manager Donald Brannon said through the weekend, CVEC crews
logged more than 257 hours of overtime. On Monday (Memorial Day) alone, 17 linemen
worked to restore power. Most consumers had power restored within two to three
hours, however, Brannon added that a small number of outlying consumers were
without power for extended hours.
Coosa Valley Electric, which serves more than 15,000 customers in Talladega,
St. Clair, Shelby, Clay, Etowah and Calhoun counties, is a Touchstone Energy7
cooperative. Nationwide, some 1,000 cooperatives provide power to rural America,
and 570 of those operate under the Touchstone Energy umbrella.
For more information, contact:
Jon Cullimore 362-4180 or 1-800-273-7210, ext. 225, Fax: 256-761-2615, Cell: 256-299-0551
Barbara Edmondson 1-800-273-7210, ext. 224
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