Mutual aid crews are flooding ice storm-damaged Duck River Electric Membership Corp. service territory today as efforts double-down to restore power to homes, farms and businesses in Marshall, Bedford and Coffee counties.
Boynton Valley substation was a related crisis that DREMC had not expected. One of TVA’s 161-kV steel transmission poles crumpled under the weight of ice-coated lines and fell on the substation’s tap. DREMC was able to back-feed some of the area served by Boynton. In the meantime, TVA was sending a replacement pole from Muscle Shoals.
Some co-op members might not be reconnected until later today or Thursday. Due to below-zero temperatures forecasted for the evening and early morning hours of Feb. 18-19, DREMC urges those still affected by outages to take steps to protect themselves and their families from potentially dangerous conditions. A shelter is open have opened in Manchester.
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 scene include those from Joe Wheeler EMC and Black Warrior Electric Cooperative. Contractor crews round out those assisting local linemen.

An employee with a contract cleaning company was killed early Tuesday morning in an accident at the Tyson plant in Shelbyville.
A spokesperson said the plant was not operating at the time of the accident. The person killed was cleaning and sanitizing equipment at the time of their death.
The victim’s identity has not been released.
The investigation is ongoing by police and Tyson Foods.
Additional information will be released at an appropriate time.

A Tullahoma business has gone green with the installation of solar panels! The Bailey Company, which is a forklift dealership in the Tullahoma Industrial Park, is the first of its kind to add solar panels to the TUB power grid. 104 panels were installed in September at the facility and have since generated about 8,500 kilowatt hours of power, amounting in $1,150 in revenue. Through the Green Power Providers program, TVA pays premium rates to program participants for 100 percent of the output of their renewable energy generation systems. The use of solar panels helps to eliminate harmful greenhouse gas, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide emissions, all while alleviating the strain on TVA to generate power. It is estimated that the Bailey Company’s solar electric system will generate about $5,500 in utility credits annually. (Credit: LightTube Cable)

Tullahoma Mayor Lane Curlee in conjunction with the Go Green! Tullahoma Committee and Public Works has announced activities and awareness campaigns to help lessen our dependency on landfills and make Tullahoma a more attractive and great intentional city. “A great Tullahoma is intentional, not accidental,” said Mayor Lane Curlee. “Part of that initiative is to create a community that is clean and green.” The City of Tullahoma is a leader in recycling for the region. Over the last year, Tullahoma’s efforts have increased residential recycling 10% with over 30% of residents participating in curbside recycling. Tullahoma provides curbside recycling to 18,655 citizens, approximately 7,000 households, within the city and covers 25 square miles. They also process all of the recycling materials for the City of Manchester and for Coffee County, a population of 52,000 (2010 US Census Bureau). Items collected curbside include cardboard, newspaper, magazines, catalogs, mixed paper, plastic items #1 – #7s, aluminum cans and tin food cans.

Recycling Message on All Garbage Cans

Public Works is working to energize and educate the public about recycling.
The first awareness campaign residents will soon see is an eye-catching new recycling sticker appearing on the lid of garbage cans.

Clean up litter

Another project the Mayor is focusing on is the Clean up! Tullahoma. The next quarterly clean-up day is scheduled for February 21. Volunteers can join in at 942 Maplewood Drive 8:00 am on Saturday.

Interstate 24 Westbound was closed Monday morning following a pileup involving several vehicles.
Sgt. Bill Miller with the Tennessee Highway Patrol said that 12 to 13 vehicles were involved in a crash on westbound Interstate 24 at mile marker 97 near Beechgrove in Coffee County.
Local law enforcement and Coffee County Emergency Management reports that multiple accidents occurred throughout Coffee County.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation says travel throughout the state continues to be treacherous.
Forecasters expect temperatures to not get above freezing for most of the state until Saturday.
Power lines around Coffee County began sparking around 2pm Monday and trees fell on the lines started to fall causing power outages. Both the Duck River Electric Membership Corporation and the Tullahoma Utility Board report that they are restoring power as quickly as possible.
Click on link for the power outage grid from DREMC http://outagemap.dremc.com:8182/

Two Tennessee lawmakers have introduced companion bills that would legalize the possession and casual exchange of up to half an ounce of marijuana.
The bills were proposed in the state House by Rep. Harold Love and in the Senate by Sen. Jeff Yarbro. They would amend the Tennessee Code to allow possession and casual, non-monetary exchange of small amounts of marijuana.
Possession, casual exchange or distribution of one ounce or more would then become a misdemeanor with a $100 fine.
If passed, the amendment would take effect on July 1st.