FINAL UPDATE: Ohio Electric Co-ops Provide Mutual Aid for Massive Virginia Snowstorm

Road to Virginia

(Rappahannock Electric Cooperative - Updated 5:00 p.m. 1/13/22) - After eight long days helping Rappahannock EC crews restore power to members in Virginia, all Ohio crews have returned home safely. OEC wishes Rappahannock the best of luck and continued safety in finishing restoration efforts. 

(Updated 11:30 a.m. 1/11/22) - Restoration efforts are winding down and currently focused on replacing broken poles. As of Tuesday, January 11, approximately 600 outages remain. 

We are looking  forward to having the OEC crews return to Ohio and their families very soon.

(Updated 3:00 p.m. 1/10/22) - Restoration efforts  continue to progress in Rappahannock EC's territory in Virginia. As of Monday, January 10, there are approximately 2,800 remaining outages. 

(Updated 10:00 a.m. 1/8/22) - Crews from Rappahannock EC and all other supporting electric cooperatives from across the nation are continuing to work round the clock to restore power to local residents. As of Saturday, January 8, outages are down to 16,100. 

(Updated 10:00 a.m. 1/7/22) - Rappahannock EC outages are down to 26,600 as a result of the hard work of crews working day and night in the area. Reports the morning of January 7 say that snowfall mostly missed the area where crews are working, allowing them to continue restoration efforts. 

Check out this video from Rappahannock that features workers from Logan County Electric and Lorain-Medina Rural Electric. 

(Updated 2:00 p.m. 1/5/22) - Forty-four employees from 18 of Ohio’s rural electric cooperatives traveled to Woodford, VA, this week to assist with restoring power to residents affected by the recent snowstorm that took out power to more than 200,000 residents in Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. Efforts to restore power are expected to take three to five days, as crews will be working in difficult terrain and weather conditions. Due to freezing temperatures and 12 inches of wet snow and ice this week, poor road conditions and stranded traffic on I-95 in the Fredericksburg area made even traveling to Virginia a challenge for Ohio crews. 

Thank you to those co-ops and lineworkers who supported this important effort! See below for a full list of participating cooperatives. 

1. Adams Rural Electric Cooperative: 2 lineworkers
2. Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative: 2 lineworkers
3. Butler Rural Electric: 1 safety supervisor
4. Consolidated Cooperative: 4 lineworkers
5. Carroll Electric Cooperative: 2 lineworkers
6. Darke Rural Electric Cooperative: 2 lineworkers
7. Firelands Electric Cooperative: 2 lineworkers
8. Frontier Power Company: 2 lineworkers
9. Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative: 2 lineworkers
10. Logan County Electric Cooperative: 2 lineworkers
11. Lorain-Medina Rural Electric Cooperative: 2 lineworkers
12. North Central Electric Cooperative: 6 lineworkers
13. Northwestern Electric Cooperative: 2 lineworkers
14. Mid-Ohio Energy Cooperative: 2 lineworkers
15. Midwest Rural Electric: 2 lineworkers
16. Paulding-Putnam Electric Cooperative: 2 lineworkers
17. Pioneer Rural Electric Cooperative: 4 lineworkers; 1 supervisor
18. The Energy Cooperative: 2 lineworkers

Article Categories