CREWE, Va – Heavy ice due to severe weather from Winter Storm Petra on Feb. 20 caused outages mainly in the western portion of Southside Electric Cooperative’s (SEC) service territory.

The damage from the impact of the ice storm was primarily in Bedford County and Campbell County. There were isolated outages in surrounding counties as well.

As of Thursday at 10:00 A.M., approximately 1,850 members remained without power.

At the peak of the event, nearly 5,000 members were impacted.

The ice that accompanied Petra impacted trees and power lines — breaking equipment and infrastructure. Because of this damage, members are encouraged to plan for possible extended outages.

Joining SEC’s line crews and field personnel in the power restoration are mutual aid crews from sister cooperatives, Jackson Energy Cooperative (Kentucky), Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative and South Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation. Lee Electrical Construction is also aiding SEC in restoration efforts.

To report outages, please call 1-866-878-5514. Those enrolled in SEC’s TextPower program can text #out to 1-866-878-5514 to report outages and will receive updates when available by texting #status.

SEC reminds members never to touch or try to move a downed power line; always assume that fallen infrastructure is energized. Please wait for SEC personnel to arrive and make repairs.

Southside Electric Cooperative is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperative that serves more than 56,000 homes and businesses in portions of 18 counties in central and southern Virginia. Headquartered in Crewe, SEC has district offices in Altavista, Crewe, Dinwiddie and Powhatan. For more information, visit www.sec.coop.
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