© 2024 KLCC

KLCC
136 W 8th Ave
Eugene OR 97401
541-463-6000
klcc@klcc.org

Contact Us

FCC Applications
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

FEMA Grants $3.7M To Lane Electric For Repairs And Restoration

Brian Bull
/
KLCC

More than two years after one of the worst winter storms hit the region, Lane Electric Cooperative is getting money to cover repairs.

In February 2019, dense and heavy snow greatly damaged the utility’s power lines, leaving most of its 10-thousand customers in the dark for up to two weeks.   

FEMA has just awarded $3.7 million to Lane Electric to compensate the expense incurred by the winter disaster.  

“So this helps us not to have to incur debt, or continue to incur debt, related to the repairs made to our system,” Debi Wilson, the utility's general manager, told KLCC.

Wilson says Lane Electric is also applying for mitigation grants, to move more power lines underground.  Currently, just about half of their lines are buried, and therefore less vulnerable to ice and falling branches.

Wilson also thanks Oregon’s two U.S. Senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, for their assistance.

Copyright 2021, KLCC. 

Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
Related Content