Hopefully this winter’s storms are past.  The unusually cold temperatures, combined with a winter mix of rain, sleet, snow and ice, produced hazardous traveling conditions, resulting in numerous fender benders and a busy season for area hospital emergency rooms, as medical personnel worked many arduous hours attending to victims of the bad weather. 

Even though SouthEastern spends millions of dollars each year on system upgrades, hours of freezing rain can cause overloaded trees to fall into lines already burdened with their own jacket of ice.  When this happens, power lines fall, and sometimes those power lines fall onto streets or driveways. 

Regardless of its location, if you see a downed power line, please report it to the Cooperative immediately.  Never touch a downed power line with the assumption that the line is de-energized.  Pure water is an insulator and ice can sometimes provide a sufficient level of insulation to prevent protective devices from working properly.  Contaminated water, on the other hand, is a conductor, and even though wood is a good insulator, the combination of wood and contaminated water, transforms moist wood into a conductor.  Attempting to pull or push downed power lines out of the way with a wooden pole or stick could result in electrocution.

Regardless of the season of year, contact the Cooperative at 1-877-399-8405 if you spot a downed power line.  We’ll repair it and restore power to the area as quickly as possible.