Storm restoration on ATC system complete as of July 25
American Transmission Co. has restored its final system outage following severe storms that ripped through central and northern Wisconsin July 19 and 20, causing more than 20 widespread system outages and eliminating power to nearly 150,000 customers.
Extreme winds referred to as a “derecho” were reportedly more than 80 miles per hour in some places, toppling trees throughout the region. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers declared a state of emergency and the Wisconsin Army National Guard was deployed to hard-hit areas.
ATC and our partners worked tirelessly on damage assessment and restoration. Numerous aerial patrols were conducted on 500 system miles to look for damage and risks.
For ATC, follow-up work is in progress, mostly related to leaning vegetation. Our vegetation management team is continuing patrols of the transmission system in the storm region to identify any damaged off-right-of-way vegetation that could become a threat.
All operators and crews committed to safety while working to restore power as soon as possible. The work was dangerous with fallen trees, gnarled branches and rough terrain, broken poles and downed wires.
“The damage covered a wide geographic area and multiple utilities were involved, so it was important that while we wanted to move swiftly to get the power back on for our customers, we worked together to make sure everyone was working safely,” said Jared Winters, ATC director of asset maintenance and commissioning.
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