The power of the cooperative community

Excellent communication, community support and the power of the cooperative community all led 5,000 Meriwether Lewis Electric Cooperative members to regain power within 12 hours after a substation fire.

“This is not a situation we have faced before, but I could not have been prouder of our team as things unfolded throughout the day,” said Keith Carnahan, MLEC’s president and CEO.

MLEC has been working to upgrade the reliability and capacity of their Hilltop Substation in Hickman County. On Thursday, April 24, some co-op employees along with a third-party contractor were working inside the substation when a fire broke out around 9:30 a.m. The crew acted and removed the injured contractor from the substation to a safe area. MLEC’s district 1 manager, Matthew Chessor, and local emergency responders were alerted immediately. Chessor called the Tennessee Valley Authority for assistance with disconnecting power to the substation. MLEC confirmed via phone with two different TVA sources that the substation no longer had power before emergency responders began addressing the fire. The co-op, volunteer fire department and City of Centerville Fire Department were able to determine the fire was contained to one portion of the substation, meaning the firefighters could enter and begin spraying the fire with foam. The fire was extinguished at approximately 10:50 a.m. With precautions, MLEC’s crew was able to re-enter the substation to begin assessing damage. Power for almost all 5,000 affected members was rerouted to a different substation in the county. By 11 p.m. the same night, all the MLEC members who lost power that morning had their lights back on as the Hilltop Substation was operational again.

The third-party contractor was hospitalized overnight for observation but was released shortly after with no burns or damage to his lungs. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but MLEC believes it was ignited by oil spraying on a hot surface. Due to the fire, a MLEC bucket truck and the contractor’s truck were total losses. MLEC also experienced damage to substation equipment. The fire and the damage are not the focus though — it’s how fast MLEC, the first responders, the community and another co-op responded in the situation that is worth noting.

Throughout the entire day, MLEC’s communication team was in constant contact with Carnahan, Chessor and the members being impacted. This allowed the most timely and accurate information to be shared throughout the co-op and to the members. Through social media, the team provided numerous updates to keep the co-op community informed about what was happening and what to expect next. They even created a map to show who was being impacted by the outage. A request was shared for the members to conserve energy to help stabilize the system until everything was back up and running. The co-op communicators even reacted or responded to every comment on social media, showing their concern for and dedication to their community.

First responders were of course ready at the scene when given the go ahead to put out the fire. A community resident driving by stopped and offered his drone for use so MLEC and the firefighters could do a visual fly over to see how widespread the fire was. This act of kindness allowed everyone to better understand what they were dealing with and ultimately make the right decisions for everyone’s safety. Middle Tennessee Electric even lent a helping hand and truly demonstrated the principle of “Cooperation Among Cooperatives”. The co-op provided substation breakers to replace ones damaged in the fire, allowing MLEC to restore power to their members.

 “As the situation progressed, I was reminded of the importance of good community and cooperative connections,” Carnahan said. “Established relationships with local emergency responders, other cooperatives like MTE, TVA and our members helped the situation have a much better outcome than it could have been.”