Published 12.01.2010 
Johnson, VT- Approximately 8,000 Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) members remain without power in the wake of unusually high winds on Wednesday which caused extensive damage. Restoration efforts are underway and a full assessment of damage will be made on Thursday when daylight breaks.

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. 

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. 

“Based on the extensive damage to our system we do expect that members may be without power until Thursday afternoon,” said Jeffrey Wright, Chief Operating Officer. “Members that are part of the smaller outages could 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.