Friday update about power outages from LCP and MN Power

Minnesota Power said about 4500 customers remain without power as of Friday evening. And they hope to have all restored by Monday.

More reinforcements and mutual aid are coming in, along with tree cutting services.

Meanwhile, Lake Country Power shared about 7500 members are still waiting, as of Friday evening.

But the utility said more outside help is coming, from places like Mankato and Albert Lea.

Crews have been working 24/7, with a majority from 6am-11pm.

Lake Country Power is reminding members to seek alternative options to stay warm until power is fully restored, which could extend into the weekend for some areas. Although an estimate on restoration is not fully known at this time.

In a statement Thursday, MP said all available crews are in the field working to restore power, but deep snow is hampering travel to the affected areas and slowing the overall response. Crews are using snowmobiles and other vehicles to patrol power lines where roads still need to be clear of snow.

The largest outages Thursday morning were along the I-35 corridor from Cloquet to Hinckley and in the Nisswa-Pine River area north of Brainerd. Crews from areas to the north, where there were fewer outages, are in the Cloquet-Sandstone assisting the response. Additional resources from Xcel Energy and a contractor also are assisting.

The number of outages could fluctuate over the next 24 hours as the snow weighs down trees, and additional power outages are possible. Minnesota Power and SWL&P restore power by first repairing major lines that feed the largest number of customers, with a priority for health and safety related customers such as hospitals, water plants and police and fire facilities. The last repairs typically are individual service lines to homes and businesses.

Crews are reporting many low-hanging wires because of the heavy snow. It’s recommended to not touch or lift any wire. Do not attempt to remove tree branches from wires, and do not get out of your vehicle on or near wires.

All power lines, including downed power lines on the ground, should be considered energized and capable of causing injury or death. Please give crews the space they need to work safely along roads and streets, and slow down when driving near them.

Members may call Lake Country Power at 800-421-9959 to report outages. For faster reporting, members are encouraged to use SmartHub. Please visit the outage map at http://outage.lcp.coop for an outage status.

For more information about where the coverage areas are you can look at www.mnpower.com/OutageCenter and https://www.swlp.com/OutageSafety/OutageCenter.

For our story about being safe shoveling snow during this season you can read that here https://www.wdio.com/weather-news/snow-shoveling-dangers-safety-tips/?utm_campaign=thumbnails&utm_source=zetaglobal&utm_medium=onsite.