Power back on after local town experiences power outage amid winter weather

Power back on after local town experiences power outage amid winter weather

LEXINGTON, Okla. (KFOR) – The power is back on in Lexington, Oklahoma after residents there discovered themselves with out warmth for six hours as temperatures dropped.

“We laid in bed till 1030am, and that’s when I contacted you because we could stay warm in bed and dog got in there with me and she kept me warm and I kept her warm,” stated Mark Clark, who lives in Lexington.

Clark instructed News 4 he awakened at 6:30am Thursday morning freezing.

“It was probably 30, 28 [degrees],” stated Clark. “You could see your breath.”

He wasn’t alone. Several different Lexington residents commented on the town’s Facebook web page that they weren’t glad.

“We have a very elderly population in our community and some people don’t have generators or the ability to go where there might be heat and electricity,” stated Mayor David Adams.

“People are worried about their children who are at home. It’s Christmas there. They’re out of school. They don’t have a warm place to go,” stated Clark. “if it had been a problem with the city, the power would have fixed by 8:00am.”

Lexington will get their power from the Oklahoma Municipal Power Association, however the electrical energy is fed by means of OG&E’s transmission system.

“We’ve been working this morning to get with OG&E to try and get Lexington Fed off of the secondary transmission line that OG&E has in that in that area as well,” stated Jennifer Smith, with the OMPA.

“[OG&E] told OMPA that there were certain protocols that had to be met,” stated Mayor Adams. “At that time, we didn’t meet those protocols.”

The metropolis posted on-line “We have been without power for approximately 3 hours and this is unacceptable when there are other options.”

While working, OG&E stated their staff discovered the issue.

“They realized that there was a co-op line laying over that OG&E transmission lines, which seems to be the cause,” stated Smith.

OG&E offered News 4 with the next assertion:

“The power is back on in Lexington. An OEC (Oklahoma Electrical Cooperatives) line fell on an OG&E line, which caused the outage. Once that was determined, OEC removed their line and power was restored. Simultaneous to determining the cause of the outage, OG&E was in the process of verifying if the alternate feed identified would hold the electric load of the City of Lexington.” – Aaron Cooper, OG&E Manager of Corporate Communications.

Around midday, whereas News 4 was speaking to Clark, the lights on the Christmas Tree out of the blue began shining. The power was back on.

“OG&E also was able to switch the feed for Lexington over to that alternate feed until that that could be repaired,” stated Smith.

Now Clark is glad to go back to a heat dwelling along with his canine.

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