Minnesota Power Continues to Make Progress on Power Restoration

Reinforcements will join in the effort to restore power to Duluth

Reinforcements from Missouri will join Minnesota Power line crews this afternoon as the company continues to make progress in restoring power to customers following Thursday morning’s severe storms.

By early Friday afternoon, the company had restored power to 19,000 of 46,000 affected during the storm. 26,000 customers remain without power.

Most customers outside the hard-hit area of Duluth, including Cloquet, Nisswa, Pequot Lakes, Walker, and Tower are expected to have power restored by the end of the day.

In Duluth, Minnesota Power are discovering that the damage is more extensive than first thought in residential areas, but they are expected to make significant progress despite this discovery.

Restoring power to some pockets in rural Duluth and other severely damaged neighborhoods may be extended through the weekend.

Fifty lineworkers and 25 heavy trucks with specialty equipment rolled into Duluth today from Ameren in St. Louis, MO.

Power restoration in this situation is a phased approach. Public safety and critical infrastructure is first priority. Crews begin with larger transmission lines then move to the primary distribution lines and finally move into neighborhoods to repair individual services.

This particular approach allows restoration of power to a larger number of customers as quickly as possible, and helps eliminate exposure to hazardous safety conditions.

Some customers who have damaged to their electric service meter and mast will need to contact an electrical contractor for repairs before Minnesota Power can restore power to the residence.