The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas are dispatching 181 line workers and utility vehicles, along with construction and right-of-way equipment, to assist South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association (SLECA) of Houma, LA. in continued power restoration efforts.
2 weeks ago, the cooperatives sent 209 line crews that have worked 16-hour days for the past 14 days. The Arkansas crews are part of a 1,100 linemen team at SLECA. SLECA estimates that approximately 75 to 80% of its 21,000 members have service due to the efforts of the crews. At the height of the outages, more than 94 percent of its members were without electrical service.
The 2nd phase crews include line workers from Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (AECI) of Little Rock, C&L Electric Cooperative of Star City, Carroll Electric Cooperative of Berryville, Clay County Electric Cooperative of Corning, Craighead Electric Cooperative of Jonesboro, Farmers Electric Cooperative of Newport, Ouachita Electric Cooperative of Camden, Ozarks Electric Cooperative of Fayetteville, Petit Jean Electric Cooperative of Clinton, South Central Arkansas Electric of Arkadelphia, Southwest Arkansas Electric Cooperative of Texarkana and Woodruff Electric Cooperative of Forrest City. The crews will provide construction, repair, and right-of-way assistance.
In addition to the crews and equipment, Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. and ERMCO have shipped more than 7,000 transformers and truckloads of power line infrastructure materials to cooperatives and municipal electric systems that were devastated by Hurricane Ida.
The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas comprise 17 electric distribution cooperatives; Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (AECI), a Little Rock-based cooperative that provides services to the distribution cooperatives; and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. (AECC), a generation and transmission cooperative. The distribution cooperatives provide electricity to approximately 600,000 homes, farms, and businesses in Arkansas and surrounding states.
For additional information, contact:
Rob Roedel, Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas at (501) 570-2296 or email Rob.