Commissioners start discussion about options to electrical system
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The Rooks County Commissioners and emergency preparedness director Butch Post met with representatives from Rolling Hills, Western Electric and Prairie Land at their February 8th regular meeting to begin a discussion about more safety options and or precautions for the electrical system for situations such as forecasted wind/snow storms. After the December 15th windstorm and fires, the commissioners have been talking about preventative safety measures that could be put in place and, if in fact, the electrical grid could possibly be shut down before a forecast of these types of storms. Those in attendance noted they are always willing to take precautionary measures based on safety, but there are limits to what can be done. The unintended consequences of turning off electricity before such a storm raises many concerns when it comes to turning it back on. Every mile of line needs to be inspected as well as the substations and poles before any section of line can be turned back on as the lines and poles might still have been damaged even with the power off. This process is time consuming and would take days to accomplish.