During the overnight hours, we sustained significant damage to the system, resulting in over 299 separate outages and leaving well over 13,000 meters without power. At the time of this post, we have 12,268 meters out. Outage were, by and large, caused by ice accumulation on lines and trees, which caused limbs to break and fall on our lines. We have had crews out assessing damage since well before sunrise, and our linemen have been hard at work making repairs and clearing away fallen trees.
All available BCEC personnel are in the field working to restore power to our members. We have additional crews coming from 3 of our sister cooperatives, Jasper-Newton, Houston County, & Cherokee County. We also have 2 contract line crews and 12 right-of-way cres assisting in our restoration efforts, with more on standby if needed.
We do not currently have an estimated time for restoration, so we encourage our members to have an alternate plan in the event that we are unable to fully restore power or even into tomorrow.
Outages by County:
- Bowie- 5542
- Cass- 4714
- Titus- 1180
- Morris- 616
- Red River- 14
What You Can Do:
- Prepare for outages by ensuring you have emergency supplies such as flashlights, batteries, and a battery-powered radio for updates.
- Check on neighbors, especially those who are more vulnerable to cold weather, and offer assistance where possible.
- Avoid any and all downed powerlines and treat them as live! Immediately report hazards to our outage hotline.
We encourage all members to report outages via our online portal, mobile app, or the Outage Hotline at 877-707-2232. Please stay connected with us on our website and social media channels for ongoing updates, safety tips, and outage information.
We understand that being without power for any length of time is not ideal. We thank all our members for their kindness and patience as our guys have worked, and continue to work, against the elements to restore power to our local communities.