Electric cooperatives’ guiding principle of mutual assistance gets a good workout this past winter, and Community Electric is proud to do its part in late February when nearby A&N Electric Cooperative (ANEC) is pummeled by Winter Storm Hernando. CEC dispatches five Linemen to ANEC to help it recover from an outage that affects more than 19,000 of ANEC’s 35,000 members at the height of the storm.
Hernando’s combination of powerful winds and heavy, wet snow causes extensive tree damage within ANEC’s service territory on Virginia’s Eastern Shore and the southeastern tip of Maryland. As the temperature dips, the storm switches to snow from rain on a Sunday afternoon, and CEC’s contingent of Linemen is on the ground at ANEC by midday Monday. The last of the ANEC homes with service disruptions has power restored by Wednesday night.
The CEC Linemen who assist with the restoration efforts are Holden Barry, Robb Darden, Jonathan Powell, Erik Thiede, and Austin Williams. ANEC shows its appreciation for their arrival in a
post on its Facebook page that Monday afternoon, and this comment from ANEC member Shirley Mason epitomizes the many messages of thanks expressed by the area’s residents.
“I would like to give this group of wonderful men a Big Thank You!!!” Mason writes. “When Ben and I see this big convoy of trucks coming down our little country road in Mears, Virginia, I am so happy that I go out and stand on my front steps and wave at them as they go by, and they wave back. I think we all just do not realize how much we take it for granted until we need them, so we thank each of you for your dangerous job that you do! We truly appreciate your hard work.”