PIERRE – Two South Dakota electric cooperatives were able to restore power to the last of their members Thursday while an estimated 2,500 rural households at six other cooperatives will remain without power for several more days.

Cooperatives throughout the state made steady progress in today’s single-digit temps. More than 700 workers are working to restore power at the affected cooperatives.

Crews working at Central Electric Cooperative in Mitchell were able to restore power to the last Central Electric member Thursday around supper time after setting 50 poles – or nearly four miles of line – to re-establish service to the member.

Crews at Whetstone Valley Electric Cooperative in Milbank spent the morning and part of the afternoon restoring power to the co-op’s last two members.

Many of the outside crews who have been assisting at the two cooperatives will now head north and west to help other harder hit co-ops continue their restoration efforts.

Some co-ops reported that the going was slower than anticipated because of the significant snow cover which has buried the lines that need to be repaired. Additionally, cooperatives have been finding more damage as they assess more remote areas. An estimated 7,500 poles were damaged in the storm which also caused thousands of wire breaks and damaged other infrastructure.

Combined, these cooperatives maintain more than 13,500 miles of line – much of which was affected by the storm. (If put in a continuous line, this line would make loop from Seattle, Wash to Duluth, Minn., to Houston, Texas, to San Diego, Calif., back to Seattle, Wash., – twice.)

Since last Tuesday, more than 16 distribution cooperatives in the state have experienced long-term outages at one point.

The public is urged to use caution and stay away from low hanging or downed power lines and use caution when driving in areas where workers are making repairs.

People are asked to stay out of ditches as broken poles and low hanging power lines may create a hazard.

Consumers using generators are urged to use caution and make sure the units are properly wired so not to inadvertently energize lines and endanger the lives of workers and the public.

The South Dakota Rural Electric Association, headquartered in Pierre, S.D., is assisting with coordinating crews to help the impacted cooperatives.

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