Slowly but surely we're digging out of the ice storm of 2009. Lexington mayor Jim Newberry deactivated the city's emergency operations center and power companies across the state say they're making progress in getting the power back on to thousands that have been in the dark for close to a week now.
As of Monday afternoon Kentucky Utilities reports 72,000 customers off statewide, most are west of I-65. In Fayette County KU is still working to restore power to 6100 people. Blue Grass Energy also have several hundred without power in Fayette county as well. There are also more than 5000 people still without power in Madison County.
Both utility companies report hundreds of crews are working overtime to restore the power. Kentucky Utilities says the real problem it's dealing with right now is a 'cold load'. The company says that's what happens when the amount of electricity customers demand when the power is restored is greater than the system is designed to take. What happens shortly after the electricity is restored is circuit breakers automatically trip to protect the system from overload, and the power goes off again.
They're asking customers to help by turning off the breaker switch to their furnaces in their homes if their power is out. All other breaker switches can be left on. When the electricity is restored, customers should leave the furnace off for about 30 minutes so the system can ‘settle out’ after restoration, then turn on the furnace and gently bring the temperature of the building up to a comfortable level.