Wednesday, April 6, 2022 – 10:00 a.m.
Cohasset, MN – Tuesday night’s spring snowstorm is affecting electric service for more than 1,600 Lake Country Power members and the numbers are growing. Line crews are working to restore service at more than 69 various outage points. Additional line crews from Mountain Iron and McGregor have been called to assist the Cohasset and Remer crews.
Those affected are primarily in the southwestern parts of the cooperative’s service area (Cass County and Itasca County), including Remer, Longville, Walker, Grand Rapids and Cohasset. Other outage areas include Goodland, Cromwell, Keewatin, Frazer Bay and a growing number of areas to the north.
The forecast calls for another three to six inches of heavy, wet snow across portions of LCP’s service area through Friday, which may cause additional outages from snow-covered trees and lines. When the weight of the snow releases off the lines it can cause the lines to “gallop” or slap together, which blows the fuse causing another outage to occur.
Line crews are facing slick, soft and wet roads for travel. Lake Country Power’s crews will work to restore power as safely and quickly as conditions allow.
“If you see a downed power line, stay away from it and call Lake Country Power to report it immediately,” said Derek Howe, P.E. chief operating officer. “There is no way to tell if a power line is energized just by looking at it. Always assume it can carry currents strong enough to kill.”
Members may call the cooperative at 1-800-421-9959 to report an outage, or visit the Outage Center online at www.lakecountrypower.coop or http://outage.lcp.coop for an outage status.
Lake Country Power, www.lakecountrypower.coop, is a Touchstone Energy® cooperative serving parts of eight counties in northeastern Minnesota. The rural electric cooperative provides services to more than 43,000 members and has offices located in Cohasset, Kettle River and Mountain Iron.