Central Electric works to restore power to last 215

Central Electric was working to restore power to the last 215 customers on Thursday after two winter storms left most of the county dark last week.

All main lines had been repaired and they were working to repair service, transformers and taps to individual homes, officials said in a news release.

By early Friday morning, their online outrage tracker showed only seven customers without power.

The Central Electric office doors at 1045 Holland Avenue have been locked, the windows papered over and they have not been answering the telephone since the crisis began Feb. 15, customers have said.

“We are proud of the tireless efforts of our crews as they continue to work until every member once again has power,” a news release from the cooperative said Thursday morning.

“More than 110 broken poles and numerous transformers are being repaired due to extensive damage to our power system from two winter storms,” they said.

The release said that as of 10:30 a.m. Thursday they had 215 customers still without power. By 2 p.m. Thursday the outage tracker showed that number had shrunk to 180.

By 4:30 a..m. Friday the tracker showed seven customers without power.

In the news release, Central Electric’s breakdown of outages by county showed Neshoba County with the most at 170.

The closest behind that was Newton County with 16 outages yet to be fixed. Both Kemper and Attala countiess reported 14 outages and Leake County had one.

“We understand the hardship of being without power for an extended length of time and are truly grateful for your continued patience,” the release said.

“We ask for your continued prayers for all our crews and members who are still without power,” they said. “Thank you to our membership for their tremendous support and patience. Our team is working hard for you.”

Philadelphia Utilities and the Tennessee Valley Authority were among the 13 groups that Central Electric thanked for assisting in getting the power back on in their coverage area.

Another was North East Mississippi Electric Power Association from Lafayette County. They suffered minimal outages in their coverage area and were happy to send help, they said.

“The midsection of our state was hit hard and we are glad to be able to help them out,” they said. “That’s what makes electric cooperatives unique.”

Member-owned Central Electric Power Association was formed in 1937 and serves over 36,000 accounts in a seven-county area in central Mississippi, including Attala, Kemper, Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Rankin and Scott counties.