How does KU prioritize power restoration after a storm?

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Kentucky Utilities says power has been restored to 7% of its customers, but that still leaves thousands in the dark. Many Kentuckians have been wondering what’s taking so long to get the power back on and how do power crews prioritize which repairs to make first.

It boils down to a few main factors: safety, volume and damage. After Friday’s wind storm, you can imagine all three have been a challenge.

KU spokesperson Daniel Lowry says their first step is to clear the lines and assess the damage to it. After that, their top priority is to get power back on for critical infrastructure. Then they work to get neighborhoods and other customers back up. With reinforcements coming in Monday, that’s been their focus.

Lowry says, at that point, they prioritize fixing the circuits that will restore power to the most customers the fastest.

Then comes the big repair jobs.

“One of the biggest problems for folks who have to wait may just be damage to the lines,” said Lowry. “We may have areas where we have lines wrapped around poles or trees that take extra time to clear that, and that can create some delays for our crews. So those folks, those customers may have to wait a bit longer, and it takes longer to restore those situations.”

At one point, there were at least 45,000 customers in Lexington without power. That number Monday afternoon has been around 26,000.

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