Mutual aid brings crews to communities in need after severe summer weather

Photos: Midwest Energy & Communications

When severe weather causes widespread outages in one electric cooperative, crews from other co-ops are ready to provide aid and ensure that safety and service are restored to affected communities as quickly as possible. At press time, crews from six Indiana co-ops are providing support to crews in four affected co-ops amid ongoing storms and outages.

Mutual aid coordinated by Indiana Electric Cooperatives even extends across state lines, as it did earlier this summer, when linemen from four Indiana co-ops helped to restore power to communities in southwest Michigan. Barbecue plans took a back seat to mutual aid this July 4 for the crews after a Friday night thunderstorm brought wind bursts of up to 100mph, knocking down power lines and trees.

Four Indiana co-ops (Carroll White REMC, Heartland REMC, Kankanee Valley REMC, Noble REMC) joined three from Michigan and two from Ohio in supporting Midwest Energy and Communications’ efforts to restore safety and power over the holiday weekend. Outages were scattered across several southwest Michigan townships, with some of the largest outages in Antwerp, Porter, Howard, and Decatur.

As Midwest E&C’s crews assessed the situation late Friday night, they found extensive, dangerous damage that would have to be cleaned up before line and equipment repairs could begin. By Saturday morning, help was on the way from across state lines. The crews returned home on Monday, July 6, having helped Midwest restore power to 11,106 customers.

Flooding and storm damage have prompted another mutual aid effort in Indiana, which is still ongoing as of press time. Currently, crews from Hendricks Power Cooperative, Kosciusko REMC, Jackson County REMC, NineStar Connect, Jay County REMC, and Henry REMC are assisting linemen in the affected territories of South Central Indiana REMC, Kankanee Valley REMC, Southeastern Indiana REMC, and Whitewater REMC.

That Kankanee Valley, one of the co-ops that pitched in for Michigan last month, is receiving support from fellow Indiana co-ops illustrates that mutual aid is truly mutual. Cooperation between co-ops allows resources to go where the need is greatest.

This summer’s team efforts are part of a long-standing tradition and program of mutual aid among cooperatives, in which resources are shared to support emergency relief. Mutual aid is coordinated by Indiana Electric Cooperatives but made possible by the willingness of line crews to show up for one another when help is needed — even on holidays.