Monday’s winter storm left more than 13,000 members of Duck River Electric Membership Corp. in the dark and cold. Mutual aid crews from other electric cooperatives, municipal utilities and contract companies assisted DREMC line workers in getting the lights back on.
“I am very proud of what was accomplished,” said Michael Watson, DREMC president and CEO. “The line crews worked safely and managed to restore power to most of our members on Wednesday.”
DREMC’s Facebook page buzzed with thanks for the men in hard hats who wrestled with ice-laden power lines and utility poles, dodged falling trees and limbs, and contended with freezing wind chill and plunging temperatures to get the job done.
On Wednesday, more than 200 linemen and other personnel fanned out in Bedford, Marshall and Coffee counties to continue clearing storm debris from rights of way, replace broken poles and raise fallen power lines.
“It is remarkable what they achieved,” Watson said. “After starting the day with more than 2,800 folks still out of service, they whittled the number down to only a few.”
The contribution of the entire DREMC team, from radio dispatchers to those who answered tens of thousands of telephone calls, made him proud, Watson said.
What co-op employees called the “February Freeze of ’15” was the worst winter storm to hit DREMC’s service territory since the late 1990s, according to veterans of both events.
The damage and outages were mainly along a diagonal swath cut through the middle of the service area. The Lewisburg (Marshall County), Shelbyville (Bedford County) and Manchester (Coffee County) districts were hardest hit.
Today (Friday), another round of winter weather is predicted by forecasters, with more snow, sleet and freezing rain in the offing before a warmup with rain over the weekend.
The problem is the possibility of more ice buildup on lines and trees. There will be little or no melting before the next front hits. The worst-case scenario, which DREMC must plan for, is a repeat of power outages on some scale.
Watson pointed out that DREMC rights-of-way are kept clear on a regular trimming cycle, but most of the outages this week were caused by large trees off the ROW bending, breaking or falling toward the power lines.

After the State Capitol thaws out from the snow and ice, one bill lawmakers are expected to take up this session is legislation (SB0612/HB0675) that would allow undocumented students who graduate from a Tennessee high school to pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities. Eben Cathey, a spokesman for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, explains why greater accessibility to affordable education benefits the entire state. “I think you can imagine the economic benefits of having thousands and thousands of students who want to get a degree who are very motivated and entrepreneurial, be able to do that,” he points out. “Think about the additions they’ll make to our economy.” Under current policy, undocumented students are not eligible for in-state tuition rates and must pay more than three times as much as their classmates to attend a public college or university, no matter how long they’ve lived in Tennessee. There are 25,000 undocumented students in Tennessee who are not eligible for in-state tuition. Twenty other states have similar programs to the one being proposed. Cesar Bautista has lived in Tennessee since he was 8 years old. Now 26, the Mexican-born resident has been trying for eight years to get his college degree, but because of paying out-of-state rates, it will take him years to get his degree in business. “I don’t want to wait six years to graduate,” he stresses. “I wish I could just finish it in three years just like everybody else. “It’s really frustrating, but the best thing I can do is just keep moving forward and try to take as many classes as possible.” Under the proposed legislation, students would have to have spent at least five years in Tennessee schools and meet the academic requirements for the HOPE scholarships. Cathey says it’s important to remember people like Bautista call the Volunteer State their home. “The vast majority of the students that this would benefit are Tennesseans in every way but on paper because they have lived in Tennessee their whole lives and likely have never been back to their country of birth,” he says. Similar legislation was introduced last year, but failed to pass.

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency says that Tennessee remains in a State of Emergency from the extremely cold weather.
The National Weather Service is watching for the potential of more winter weather moving across Tennessee Friday and Friday night.  Forecasts for this incoming system could produce an inch or more of snow followed by heavy freezing rain and sleet. Fatalities Tennessee has ten (10), confirmed, weather-related fatalities:

• Hamilton County – One (1) fatality: 63-year-old male, hypothermia related
• Henry County – Two (2) fatalities: 64-year-old female, hypothermia related; 69-year-old male, hypothermia related
• Hickman County (1) fatality:  male, dialysis patient, unable to get to treatment
• Knox County – One (1) fatality: 30-year-old male, motor vehicle accident
• Overton County – One (1) fatality: 38-year-old female, motor vehicle accident
• Sequatchie – One (1) fatality, 85-year-old male, hypothermia related
• Shelby County – One (1) fatality: 48-year-old male, hypothermia related

Williamson County – Two (2) fatalities: 34-year-old female; 10-year-old male, motor vehicle accident

We have more information on the problems the area received from the winter weather. Tullahoma Utilities Board (TUB) reports that they experienced scattered outages across town due to trees (pine mostly) as they became heavy with ice. Areas that were affected the most were Ovoca Road, Stone Blvd./Westview area, Crestwood/Westwood, Lake Circle/Crosslake/Lakewood, Wilson Ave., Old Shelbyville Hwy, Bragg Circle, Sharondale area, Tara Estates, Old Estill Springs Hwy, Fort Street, Ragan Street, and Silver/Ham streets.
TUB says they had multiple primary wires down, a broken pole, and multiple damaged transformers.
Approximately 1,000 people in total were affected.
Crews worked throughout the night on Monday and finished restoring power to all areas of Tullahoma on Tuesday morning.

Charter Communication also had problems with outages. Around 1,500 costumers lost all or part of their cable, phone and or internet services. Most of Charter Communication services have been restored.

Duck River Electric Membership Corporation had to battle many issues throughout its large service area. A huge amount of the several thousand that lost electric power was in Coffee County but that number was reduced to only a few by Wednesday afternoon.
Nine outside crews with their bucket trucks and equipment rallied to help DREMC. They came from Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative, South Pittsburg; Tri-County EMC, Lafayette; Middle Tennessee EMC, Murfreesboro; Shelbyville Power; and Fayetteville Public Utilities. Crews from Alabama are also in the area including those from Joe Wheeler EMC and Black Warrior Electric Cooperative. Contractor crews round out those assisting local linemen.

The Coffee County Emergency Management along with support of the Manchester Fire Department have been operating an emergency shelter at the Coffee County Raider Academy.
The shelter remains set up if needed but is not being manned at the current time. Low temperatures are expected to dip to single digits Thursday night so emergency personnel want area citizens to understand there is a place for them to stay warm. If you need a place to stay please call the Coffee County Communication Center at 728-9555 and volunteers can have it open in a matter of minutes. 17 people used the shelter on Tuesday night.
The Red Cross has provided cots and the school does have restroom facilities and showers in the locker rooms. They are also prepared to feed if necessary.

Tennessee Emergency Management Agency reports that Tennessee now has six (6), confirmed, weather-related fatalities:
• Knox County: One (1) fatality, 30-year-old male, motor vehicle accident
• Overton County: One (1) fatality, 38-year-old female, motor vehicle accident
• Williamson County: Two (2) fatalities: 34-year-old female and 10-year-old male, motor vehicle accident
• Hamilton County: One (1) fatality, 63-year-old male, hypothermia related
• Shelby County: One (1) fatality, 48-year-old male, hypothermia related