CALVERT CITY, KY – Nearly 600 West Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative members in the Calvert City and Gilbertsville area of Marshall County will be affected by an overnight power outage this week.
The outage will begin around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night, October 21, and continue through around 5:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, October 22. During the outage Tennessee Valley Authority line crews will repair transmission lines that provide electricity to West Kentucky Rural Electric’s Gilbertsville substation.
“This is a lengthy outage,” said WKRECC President & CEO David Smart. “And, while it is certainly inconvenient for our members, we recognize that TVA must complete the repairs to avoid an even more damaging transmission line failure in the future. TVA scheduled the work during mild weather and overnight to help minimize the impact of the outage. We apologize for the disruption and ask for your patience as TVA works to improve the transmission system in our service area.”
In conjunction with TVA’s work, West Kentucky Rural Electric crews will be completing a series of switching operations in the area to help reduce the impact of the outage.
WKRECC will be placing automated calls to members affected by the outage. The automated call will go to the primary number associated with each account. Members may call WKRECC at 1-877-495-7322 to update their phone number if it has recently changed.
WKRECC urges members to plan ahead for the 7-hour outage. Reach out to family or friends who are elderly, in poor health or who have infants at home, to make sure they are aware of the outage and help them prepare.
Here are a few tips for dealing with power outages:
- Make sure cell phones and other devices are fully charged.
- Place flashlights and extra batteries in a central, accessible location.
- Avoid using candles due to the risk of fire.
- Prior to the start of the outage, turn off and unplug all unnecessary electrical equipment, including sensitive electronics.
- Keep freezers and refrigerators closed, to keep food fresh.
- Air conditioners/furnaces should be turned off during power outages. Do not turn them back on for several minutes after the power has been restored.
- If the health of family members is a concern, consider staying with family or friends outside the outage area where electricity is available.
- If you choose to use a standby generator, be sure it has been installed and wired properly. Learn more about generator safety at wkrecc.com
Members who have questions about this outage may call West Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative at 1-877-495-7322 or 270-247-1321.
West Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, Inc. is a member-owned cooperative that provides power to more than 31,000 members in Western Kentucky. Headquartered in Mayfield, Ky., WKRECC is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative and a distributor of Tennessee Valley Authority power. Additional information may be found at http://wkrecc.com.