Friday storms disrupt power to over 10,000 ECE members

BRAHAM, MN - High winds and lightning caused more than 10,000 members across ECE's service territory to be without power as trees toppled by high winds took down lines and lightning damaged electrical equipment.

The first outage calls were received around 5 p.m. on Friday. Outage numbers continued to rise through the night as the storm moved west to east. The hardest hit area was Pine City, MN, but many other communities within ECE's service territory experienced outages. Crews worked through the night on Friday with repairs continuing through Saturday. By 5 p.m. Sunday power was restored to all ECE members affected by the storms.

"ECE thanks members for their patience and understanding during this service interruption. We also extend our appreciation to our employees who worked long hours during the outage and to line crews from neighboring cooperatives Stearns Electric Association, Runestone Electric Association and Lake Region Electric Cooperative for their assistance," said ECE President and CEO Garry Bye.

ECE reports all major outages to local radio stations serving the affected area and provides periodic updates regarding restoration estimates. Members are encouraged to include a non-electric radio in their emergency pack and use it to tune in to local stations for important outage information.

East Central Energy www.eastcentralenergy.com is a member-owned electric cooperative that serves more than 57,000 homes, farms and businesses in east central Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. ECE provides electricity, Internet and long distance services, as well as community and business development and environmental services.