MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WTVF) — Middle Tennessee Electric has restored power to customers who can accept it following one of the most challenging ice storms the utility has ever faced, according to Chief Operating Officer Brad Gibson.
At the peak of the storm, MTE dealt with approximately 26,000 outages across its system serving about 360,000 meters.
"Yeah, we had at our peak about 26,000 outages," Gibson said.
Unlike typical storms, the ice created ongoing problems even as crews worked to repair damage. Gibson described the frustrating cycle crews experienced during restoration efforts.
"One or multiple crews would be working to restore power by putting up a broken pole, down lines, they would work for hours for that one instance, they'd do it, and as they drove away literally in the rear view mirror, they would see some other tree come down from the way to the ice," Gibson said.
The utility quickly scaled up its response by calling on electric companies from other regions through mutual aid agreements.
"In this case it was hundreds and hundreds of additional linemen, for example, that came in to support that effort. So probably somewhere in the vicinity of four or maybe 500 folks were working on the system at any given point," Gibson said.
Inside MTE's system control room, crews tracked outages in real time and shifted resources as conditions changed throughout the storm.
"Making sure we put folks where they can be quickest to restore power safely. They can tell where our vehicles are located using a technology called AVL. All those pieces are kind of playing into you can see the weather's up on the screen," Gibson said.
While power has been restored to customers who can accept it, crews continue making permanent repairs. Gibson warned that additional damage could still occur.
"Trees that were partially damaged, may come down," Gibson said.
Gibson described this storm as particularly memorable for its impact on the utility's operations.
"This is one of the most impactful events I've ever been a part of," Gibson said.
Because MTE anticipates more severe weather, crews remain in storm response mode through the weekend.
Have you experienced power outages or storm damage in your area? Share your story and storm preparation tips with our team at kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com. Watch the full video report above to see how MTE's crews worked around the clock to restore power during this historic ice storm.
In this article, we used artificial intelligence to help us convert a video news report originally written by Kim Rafferty. When using this tool, both Kim and the NewsChannel 5 editorial team verified all the facts in the article to make sure it is fair and accurate before we published it. We care about your trust in us and where you get your news, and using this tool allows us to convert our news coverage into different formats so we can quickly reach you where you like to consume information. It also lets our journalists spend more time looking into your story ideas, listening to you and digging into the stories that matter.
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