Hope Water and Light Co-General Manager of Operations Russell Cornelius confirmed Monday the key reason for a minimum of power outages in and around Hope during Winter Fern’s visit the weekend starting January 27th.
“The electric system when it comes to snow or sleet, it's not that big of a deal for us. So the good Lord blessed us. We did not have a lot of freezing rain,” he said.
Cornelius said there were a couple small outages around the county at the beginning of the storm. “We had two issues Friday evening. One out around [the] Shower Springs area, and it was due to a tree. And then another one was out at the Oakhaven area, and it was also due to a tree.”
After the winter storm of Christmas Day 2000, which came with a lot of freezing rain, Cornelius said Hope Water & Light began a regular practice to help prevent power outages due to fallen vegetation: “We go through our entire distribution system, trimming limbs on a four-year cycle. We've got about 200 miles of distribution system, and we do about 50 miles per year getting them trimmed. So that's been a huge thing. … We spend quite a bit of money on tree trimming every year, but it pays off.”
Electrical Department Supervisor Jake Cornelius (no relation) also attributed the lack of freezing rain falling on the Prescott Water & Light lines to a higher power. “The little bit of freezing rain we got, was beat off by the sleet. That and a lot of preparation. More than anything, the good Lord, was just really looking out for us,” he said.
There was a power outage for one building, Cornelius said, that occurred during the time the precipitation on its roof was sliding off. “During the thaw, the ice thawing off the roof at, I believe it was the ambulance service took the meter loop off.” Cornelius said this damage did not affect power service to any other addresses.
For Cornelius, the real heroes of the storm were the first responders, many of whom helped get essential workers to their jobs. “They were out and about, carrying people to work, back and forth,” he said.