December windstorm summons need for mutual aid

Hurricane-strength winds across the southern San Luis Valley took out power to approximately 275 accounts in Costilla County on Wednesday, Dec. 15 and downed 58 transmission and 70 distribution poles near San Acacio.
As SLVREC crews worked to assess the damage, outside help was called in for mutual aid. With the Valley’s frigid temperatures, restoring power to the homes as quickly as possible was of the utmost importance. Crews from Gunnison County Electric Association, La Plata Electric Association, National Powerline and Tri-State came to assist.
In addition, limited supply issues led REC to reach out to neighboring cooperatives and utilities to obtain needed supplies and poles.
An emergency shelter for those impacted— without access to heat and special needs— was established at the Blanca-Ft. Garland Community Center by Costilla County Emergency Management and the Red Cross.
By Saturday morning (Dec. 18), most services had been restored. REC crews remained onsite continuing repairs throughout the weekend, while Tri-State and National Power crews worked on transmission poles, and Gunnison and La Plata crews headed home.
The assistance and cooperation from all outside entities was incredible. One of our core principles­—cooperation among cooperatives— was clearly evident. We couldn’t have restored power as quickly as we did without the help of the other crews. In addition, REC members were patient, appreciative and respectful to all working to restore the power.
“One of the truly unique aspects of this effort was the response from SLVREC’s consumer-members to the restoration effort,” said Ruth Mark, Tri-State vice president for transmission maintenance. “Often times the repair work takes place in very remote locations, but families brought our crews food and drinks, and thanks for the effort.”
Cody Hale, Tri-State westline maintenance super-intendent, agreed. ”It was really powerful for our crews to experience first-hand the cooperative spirit that is at the core of what we do, and it was gratifying to have local member owners of REC thanking all of us for our efforts,” Hale said.
We truly appreciate the patience from our members and all the great community support we received during this outage.