FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FIVE HOMETOWN UTILITIES AID HANNIBAL AND MONROE CITY IN ICE STORM RECOVERY
COLUMBIA, MO, JAN. 2, 2021 – In the wake of ice storms that swept through Missouri on January 1st, line crews from several hometown utilities volunteered to help restore power to the cities of Hannibal and Monroe City.
The response was coordinated through a mutual aid network of utilities that are members of the Missouri Public Utility Alliance (MPUA).
At Hannibal, after significant outages were caused by downed tree limbs hitting power lines, line crews from Columbia Water & Light, Harrisonville, Macon Municipal Utilities and Rolla Municipal Utilities responded to assist the Hannibal Board of Public Works (HBPW) hometown utility staff in power restoration and repair work. The combined 4-city mutual aid response to HBPW included 17 lineworkers with 11 utility work vehicles, including bucket and digger trucks. At midday Jan. 2, HBPW reported that about 500 customers remained without power.
In Monroe City, hometown electric crews repairing outages were assisted by a crew of four lineworkers from the city of Higginsville. After power restoration at Monroe City was complete by noon on Jan. 2, the Higginsville crew traveled to Hannibal to join in the HBPW restoration effort.
The responding crews were from utilities in a mutual aid network coordinated by Missouri Public Utility Alliance. The 84 utilities in the network are hometown “public power” electric utilities, not-for-profit community-owned electric utilities that serve their individual communities but also have agreements in place allowing staff to assist neighboring communities and states during widespread outages in other communities. Assisting utilities are reimbursed by the communities receiving assistance.
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About the Missouri Public Utility Alliance (MPUA):
The Missouri Public Utility Alliance is a multi-state association of more than 120 city-owned electric, water, gas, wastewater, and broadband utilities in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi and Nebraska. MPUA provides support to its members in the areas of electric and natural gas supply, water and wastewater compliance, mutual aid disaster assistance, financing, safety training and utility operations. MPUA also advocates on behalf of municipalities on utility issues at the national and state levels. MPUA also coordinates mutual aid disaster assistance for municipal utilities in Missouri and Arkansas.
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