Hello East Central Electric Member
The purpose of this page is to provide updates for members on large-scale outage events and other pertinent information. To report an outage, please use SmartHub or call 918-756-0833.
CURRENT ALERTS
4:30 p.m. Update - We are down to 400 without power at 3 outage locations. Crews are getting close to wrapping up pole replacements in the Morris and Bald Hill areas, and power should be restored before dark this evening.
3:30 p.m. Update - We are down to 417 without power at 7 locations. The remaining outages are all related to broken poles that crews are actively working to replace.
2:30 p.m. Update - We are down to 445 without power at 12 locations.
1:30 p.m. Update - We currently have 573 members without power at 25 locations.
Noon Update - We currently have 700 members without power at 29 locations. We have an updated outage map with this post.
10:45 a.m. Update - We have been able to confirm 18 broken poles as a result of early morning storms. At this time we have 490 members without power at 55 different outage locations. We have ECE crews and Contractor crews working to get poles replaced and power restored.
10 a.m. Update - We are currently at 974 members without power at 66 locations.
8:30 a.m. Update - We are currently at 540 without power at 42 locations. We have been able to verify 9 broken poles. We have added some photos to this post.
7:45 a.m. Update - We have reports of several poles down and lines down. If you see damaged or downed equipment, please assume it is still live, stay far away, and call the co-op to report the location. There is an updated outage map on this post.
7:15 a.m. Update - The total number of members without power has reached 744 at 65 outage locations.
Good morning East Central members. We are currently experiencing weather related power outages in our service area. At 6:45 a.m. we have approximately 327 members without power at 80 different outage locations. If you experience a power outage, please call our 24-7 emergency dispatch line at 918-756-0833 our report it using SmartHub. Our team is out in the field, restoring power as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
CURRENT WEATHER CONDITIONS
OUTAGE RESTORATION PROCESS
During large-scale outage events, restoration is often a complex process requiring long hours of work for our team and any others who respond to provide mutual aid.
Transmission lines are owned and operated by our power suppliers, KAMO and Western Farmers. These lines carry electricity across hundreds of miles from the generation facilities to substations across the East Central service territory. Whenever these systems are cut off, it can impact tens of thousands of members.
Substations are jointly owned and operated by the cooperative and our power suppliers. The substations take power from the transmission lines and step it down to travel across the co-op owned distribution lines. Whenever these systems are cut-off, it can impact several thousand members.
Distribution lines are owned and operated by the cooperative to distribute power across our service territory to individual members. Depending on the severity and location of the damage, when these systems are cut-off, it can impact anywhere from 2 to 2,000 members.
East Central is responsible for maintenance on everything up to and including the meter on your home or business. It is important that you ensure the cooperative has a record of your outage via SmartHub or direct phone call to make sure your power comes back on as steps 1, 2, and 3 are restored. If it does not, having a report on record will allow our team to see that your power is not yet restored and take steps to address the outage.
Our goal is to ensure the well-being of our members by restoring power as quickly and safely as possible. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
Click here to learn more about Outage Safety and Preparation.
SOUTHWEST POWER POOL
Southwest Power Pool (SPP) acts as a balancing authority for a 14-state region, meaning they balance electricity production and use for their region. SPP ensures there is sufficient generation to meet the demand for electricity. This is why energy conservation in North Dakota, for example, can have a meaningful impact on electric reliability in the Oklahoma panhandle.
SPP communicates to our Generation and Transmission Cooperative (G&T), Western Farmers, who in turn supplies power and emergency response response communications to East Central Electric Cooperative. SPP does not regulate our other G&T, KAMO.
SPP has a three level energy emergency alert plan:
Emergency Alert Level 1
- Declared when all available resources have been committed and SPP is at risk of not meeting required operating reserves.
Emergency Alert Level 2
- Declared when SPP can no longer provide the expected energy requirements. At this point, East Central will communicate with members, encouraging voluntary conservation.
Emergency Alert Level 3
- Declared when SPP is operating below the required minimum and may have to ask member utilities to curtail energy use through controlled service interruptions. At this point, East Central will communicate with members about necessary service interruptions.