Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 30, 1994 TAG: 9401310267
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
We kept hearing newscasters referring to this as the "coldest weather in a decade." Apco kept remarking how well they were doing and were constantly asking people to conserve energy. They said they had enough power to go around if this was done.
We are sure that Apco had enough power because they turned off over a third of Floyd County, including businesses and homes, around 9 a.m. on Jan. 19. We never heard that on TV. We conserved 100 percent for them for 12 hours and were never even asked or notified.
Surely if there was time for Apco to plead for conservation and notify some businesses, there also was time for them to have warned the people of Floyd.
Couldn't they have gotten updates on the TV and radios about the cause, progress and possible duration of the power outage?
We are tired of being treated as second-class customers.
Rarely occurring power outages are bearable. However, this is a continual problem for Floyd County Apco customers.
The loss of power on Jan. 19 represents the third time in 30 days that sections of Floyd County have been without power for an extended period.
I was told by the Apco office when I called at 7:20 p.m. Jan. 19, after being without power for over 10 hours, that Apco needed to fix a piece of defective equipment, and that this equipment could not have withstood another night like the one before with wind chills of -30 and -40 degrees.
How was this piece of equipment found to be defective?
Was it by a stress test that could have been done at another time?
Even if this situation was unavoidable, there is no excuse why notification and sharing of this burden was not done.
Apco has told its side of what happened during the "coldest weather in a decade." We wanted to let our side be known.
Sharon Clabaugh
Floyd
by CNB