Published 12.2.2010
Johnson, VT- In the wake of a large wind storm that barreled through the Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) service territory on Wednesday, electric service has been restored this morning to approximately 2,000 VEC members. A large outage in the Smugglers Notch area has been repaired, along with other outages in the Williston and Island Pond regions.

About 6,000 members still remain without power. Crews continue to work on outages throughout the VEC territory, including a large outage in the Hinesburg area. VEC expects to make significant headway on Thursday, although it is likely that full restoration will not be complete until the weekend. Crews from other utilities have been called upon to help.

The magnitude of damage is high with downed power lines and trees, along with broken utility poles causing outages. It is difficult for crews to reach many outage points due to the number of tress blocking access to electric utility lines.

“We are making progress in restoring power,” said Jeffrey Wright, Chief Operating Officer. “High winds were strong enough to snap more than 30 utility poles and have brought down hundreds of trees and power lines. Due to the magnitude of damage, we do expect that some members may be without power into the weekend.”

VEC urges members to stay away from downed power lines as they may still be energized and could cause serious injuries or even death. Call the Coop to report the downed lines at 1-800-832-2667.

For up to date information please go to the outage center on our website at www.vermontelectric.coop.