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Press Release, 2002Storms Knock out Power to 6,000 CVEC MembersStorms Knock out Power to 6,000 CVEC Members TALLADEGA, Ala. - Storms rolling through East Central Alabama Sunday afternoon knocked out power to three Coosa Valley Electric Cooperative substations in north and east Talladega County. Early estimates place the number of consumers affected at more than 6,000. At approximately 4:30 p.m. Alabama Power transmission lines feeding Coosa Valley Electric's Lincoln, Eureka and Stockdale substations went down. "Together these substations serve more than 6,000 residents, and when Alabama Power's transmission lines went down, all of those members would've been without power," said Frank Kujawski, CVEC general manager. Power to all substations was restored by 7 p.m. "The extent of damage to Coosa Valley Electric's system could not be determined until the substations were re-energized," Kujawski said. On-call crews reported that damage to the cooperative's distribution system was mainly isolated but major to the areas supplied by the Eureka substation. Some outlying areas served by the Lincoln and Stockdale substations received minor damage that delayed power restoration efforts. Power was restored to nearly all affected members shortly around midnight Sunday evening. While Coosa Valley Electric does not buy its power from Alabama Power, it transmits power across Alabama Power's transmission system through a practice called "wheeling." Coosa Valley Electric buys its power from Alabama Electric Cooperative in Andalusia. Coosa Valley Electric, which serves more than 15,000 customers in Talladega, St. Clair, Shelby, Clay, Etowah and Calhoun counties, is a Touchstone Energy® 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: |
