Cooperative “Power”: Coming to the aid of a sister co-op

On the evening of Thursday, June 15, multiple severe thunderstorms popped up all across northern Ohio. At the ready were the hundreds of lineworkers, operations teams, and their support crews ready to travel and work wherever they were needed at any of the affected co-ops in Ohio.

At Lorain-Medina Rural Electric, crews were waiting to see where the electrical infrastructure was damaged and ready to go out to make repairs to keep the lights on for co-op members. Little did they realize when the storms began that another co-op would need assistance.

One of LMRE’s seven guiding principles is Cooperation Among Cooperatives. Co-ops serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional, and international structures. So, when another co-op calls for help, we answer.

After confirming all was good with LMRE members, Jake McIntosh, Joel Miller, Drew Hartley, Logan Sponsler, Clint Slavec, Brock Hoverstock, Tyler Moore, Nick Keys, Owen Carey, and Josh Oney volunteered to help Firelands Electric Cooperative, located in New London, Ohio, and servicing members in Ashland, Huron, Lorain, and Richland counties.

These two crews, along with two bucket trucks and two digger trucks, headed out at 7 a.m. on June 16 to assist their sister co-op, continuing work into the weekend.

After multiple EF 2 tornadoes (defined as having 3 -second gusts of 111 to 135 mph winds) on their system, Firelands was left with more than 5 ,000 members without power, 30 broken poles, and several full lines down.

Within 48 hours, crews from Firelands, LMRE, and other co-ops were able to restore all the damage and get power back to all members.

This is the power of the co-op, a not-for-profit model that focuses on its members.

FUNDS

LORAIN-MEDINA RURAL

ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE LOCAL

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