Winter Storm Uri, which brought ice, snow, and extreme cold temperatures in mid-February, proved to be a true test for power companies throughout the nation. In fact, some communities endured extended amounts of time without power in the frigid conditions. However, thanks to the hard work of the City of West Plains’ Electric crews and the overwhelming support of the community, City of West Plains utility customers experienced no blackouts due to a lack of energy.
Public Works Director Jeff Hanshaw addressed the impact of the February storm during the March 22 City Council meeting, and pointed out that City of West Plains utility customers will likely see higher-than-normal bills due to electric usage and not from a rate increase.
However, Hanshaw pointed out that because of utility customers doing their part during the peak alert issued from February 13-19, the City was able to generate enough energy to meet the demands. This includes major manufacturers in the City – such as Ozarks Healthcare, Leonardo DRS, Arlee Home Fashions, and Armstrong – who postponed work and closed their facilities to help with electric usage during this time.
As part of Hanshaw’s report, he indicated the storm lasted eight days, and provided the following information about the event:
- 326,789 gallons of diesel fuel were used for the generator.
- A 24-operating schedule was implemented for a week for Electric Department crews to operate the generators and respond to outages as needed.
- The Electric Department worked a total of 1066 hours between 16 employees.
- Water and Sewer Departments worked a total of 423 hours due to frozen pipes and water leaks during the event.
Hanshaw pointed out that citizens needing assistance on their utility bills can contact Ozark Action. He also added that “through a combination of city generation, employee dedication, community partnership and support, and customer support we weathered the storm successfully due to the reliability of our public power electric grid.”
