About 1,100 rural residences remain without electricity as crews from Dakota Valley Electric and Northern Plains Electric continue to deal with down power lines, according to Katie Ryan-Anderson, manager of member communications for the cooperatives.
Ryan-Anderson said ice and frost accumulations on lines and at substations were causing the outages that would possibly last through the night and into Thursday for some residents. The cooperatives have contracted to bring in additional crews Thursday to aid with the repairs.
Ryan-Anderson said the wet conditions with warmer than normal temperatures were compounding the problem by allowing moisture to form as frost on power lines. This caused some of the lines to break.
Customers encountering a downed power line are encouraged to contact the power company and to stay away. Downed power lines can still carry an electric current and pose an electrocution risk.
