More than two years after one of the worst winter storms hit the region, Lane Electric Cooperative is getting money to cover repairs.
In February 2019, dense and heavy snow greatly damaged the utility’s power lines, leaving most of its 10-thousand customers in the dark for up to two weeks.
FEMA has just awarded $3.7 million to Lane Electric to compensate the expense incurred by the winter disaster.
“So this helps us not to have to incur debt, or continue to incur debt, related to the repairs made to our system,” Debi Wilson, the utility’s general manager, told KLCC.
Wilson says Lane Electric is also applying for mitigation grants, to move more power lines underground. Currently, just about half of their lines are buried, and therefore less vulnerable to ice and falling branches.
Wilson also thanks Oregon’s two U.S. Senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, for their assistance.
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