For immediate release | December 27, 2023
Safety and outage updates from Cass County Electric Cooperative
FARGO, N.D. — When ice, snow, and wind bring down tree limbs and power lines, safety is a consideration indoors and out. Cass County Electric Cooperative (CCEC) wants to make sure our members and communities know how to weather the storm.
Safety Considerations
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Stay away from downed power lines:
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Don’t drive distracted. Drive according to the conditions of the road. Be courteous to roadside work crews. In addition to giving lineworkers some space while they are near your property, we also ask that you move over or slow down when approaching a utility vehicle on the side of the road.
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A power line need not be sparking or arcing to be energized. Equipment near power lines can also be energized and dangerous. Now is not the time to clean up yards or roadways on your own. Assume all low and downed lines are energized and dangerous. If you see a downed or sagging line, contact CCEC at 701-356-4400.
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If you are driving, please use caution and watch for downed lines. Motorists should never drive over a downed line, as snagging a line could pull down a pole or other equipment and cause other hazards. We remind members to submit service issues on the Cass County Electric app or by calling or emailing us. This is the most accurate way of getting us your information and helping us restore power faster.
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Be careful approaching intersections; oftentimes, this is an area where lines cross the roadway. CCEC and other local utilities currently have hundreds of downed poles and many miles of line lying on the ground.
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If you have a dog, try to keep it indoors while lineworkers are on or near your property. While most dogs are friendly, some are defensive of their territory and can’t distinguish between an intruder and a utility worker.
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If you are in an auto accident involving a power line, your vehicle is usually the safest place to be. If it is safe to do so, stay in your car, call 9-1-1, and wait for electric utility personnel to arrive. If your car is on fire, make a solid, clean jump from your vehicle and hop away as far as you can with your feet together.
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Please ensure you are using your generator properly to keep you and our lineworkers safe. Never try to power the house wiring by plugging the generator into a wall outlet. Known as “backfeeding,” this practice puts utility workers, your neighbors, and your household at risk of electrocution. Learn more about generator safety here: https://casscountyelectric.com/restoring-your-power-power-outage-dos-and-donts.
While we appreciate your kindness and interest in the work of our crews, we ask that you stay back and let them focus on their task at hand. Even routine work has the potential to be dangerous, and it takes their full attention and that of their colleagues, who are also responsible for the team’s safety. Distractions can have deadly consequences. If a lineworker is on or near your property during a power outage, please allow them ample room to work. These small accommodations help protect our crews–– and you.
Remember to contact CCEC if you see damage to equipment. Please slow down around crews and vehicles. Be cautious on the roads – there are wires sagging and broken and poles down across the southeast part of ND.
Outage Update
With more than 2,500 miles of overhead line, patrolling and restoring power may take a while. We are likely looking at the weekend or longer before a full system restoration is possible. Much depends on the weather, conditions on roads and right-of-ways, and additional damage found as we patrol. At least 24 lineworkers from 6 other North Dakota and Minnesota electric cooperatives are here or on their way here to help with restoration efforts.
The weather has continued to cause problems affecting our entire service territory, impacting equipment in substations, taking down lines, and breaking many hundreds of poles. It is impossible for us to provide accurate restoral times, as we have hundreds of individual outages happening simultaneously throughout our service territory.
If you are affected by an outage, now is the time to invest in a generator or have other backup plans in place. Affected members should get their generators and fuel sources ready in preparation for an extended outage due to weather and ongoing system damage.
Our local grid of transmission and distribution electricity providers are all working together to restore electric service to as many people as possible, and we appreciate your understanding and support as we continue to work to make repairs and bring back power.
Please use our outage viewer for the most up-to-date and accurate outage information. Users can sort by county, view predicted/verified status, change their base map, add radar overlays, and more.
Although CCEC invests heavily in equipment and technology to fortify our system, we don’t always know when members are out of power. We remind members to submit damage and service issues by downloading the CCEC mobile app.
Follow us on Facebook for the most up-to-date outage information.
About Cass County Electric Cooperative
Headquartered in Fargo, N.D., Cass County Electric is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric distribution cooperative serving nearly 57,000 member accounts in a 10-county area in southeastern North Dakota. Cass County Electric Cooperative has five service centers in Fargo, Kindred, Valley City, Lisbon, and Arthur, North Dakota. Cass County Electric Cooperative’s wholesale power supplier is Minnkota Power Cooperative.
For more information, contact:
Jocelyn Hovland, Manager of Communications
(701) 356-4526 or jhovland@kwh.com
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