REC Member-Owners Eligible for Coronavirus Relief Funding
Fredericksburg, VA – Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) is assisting with the distribution of Coronavirus Relief Funds to member-owners who fell behind on electric bill payments between March 1, 2020 and October 1, 2020.
These funds, which were part of the federal CARES Act and were authorized for this use by the General Assembly and the governor in the amended state budget, will be applied to the past due amounts of individual member-owners who complete an online application certifying that their electric bill debt is due to an economic hardship caused by the pandemic. Eligible REC member-owners will receive a notification letter in the mail with the amount of relief funding potentially available to them.
It was back to business as usual Thursday afternoon after winter storm Gail dropped several inches of snow throughout Warren and Shenandoah counties Wednesday.
According to the National Weather Service, 9 inches of snow had fallen in Front Royal by 9 a.m. Thursday and 11.5 inches had fallen in Basye by 11:53 p.m. Wednesday. Almost 9 inches had fallen by 3:02 a.m. Thursday in Shenandoah County.
Road conditions were reported by the Virginia Department of Transportation as clear on Interstate 66 in Warren County and on I-81 in Shenandoah County by 11 a.m.
Primary and secondary roads in Warren County were down to bare pavement except for isolated spots of snow, ice or slush, by about 4:15 p.m. VDOTâs website reported âno adverse road conditions for Shenandoah County primary roads by about 6:15 p.m. Route 758 (Woodstock Tower Road) West and East were closed for ice, VDOTâs website reported around the same time.
Photo: WINA
CHARLOTTESVILLE (WINA) – Dominion Energy Virginia says they’ve been able to make good progress on restoring some 42,000 customers who lost power at the peak of Wednesday’s storm, and expect to have everyone back up by 11 o’clock tonight (Friday). Rappahannock Electric Cooperative said 21,000 of their customers lost power at the peak, but did not give a time estimate when all their customers will be back up. However, both utility companies say they’ve been replacing a lot of broken utility poles from ice on the trees and the lines. Just before noon, both reported about 2000 of their customers each remaining to be restored. REC said they had about 90% of their customers back with electricity.
Dec 17, 2020
Restoration Efforts Continue After Winter Storm
Fredericksburg, Va. - Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) crews, contractors and vegetation management teams worked through the night to repair damage and restore service to thousands of member-owners who lost power in yesterday’s winter storm.
At the peak, more than 21,000 member-owners were without power around 10 p.m. yesterday. As of 8 a.m., just over 14,500 REC member-owners remained without electricity.
Freezing rain, sleet and heavy wet snow accumulation on trees, along with wind and saturated soil, caused limbs and whole trees to fall onto power lines. The ice and saturated ground is also making accessing and repairing damage difficult. Linemen have had to haul their gear into remote rights of way, where they climbed poles manually to make needed repairs.
The Rappahannock Electric Cooperative outage map as of 10:35 a.m. Dec. 7.
Warrenton Volunteer Fire Company Assistant Fire Chief Sam Myers said Thursday morning that most of the calls his station had responded to over the past day were related to trees on power lines. Most of them were outdoor electrical hazards due to the ice accumulation on trees.
The regional office of the Virginia Department of Transportation said in a 6 a.m. press release that all major highways had been cleared of snow but that secondary roads were still hazardous. VDOT crews will continue working on Thursday to address those icy conditions and clean up any roads that were not completely plowed on Wednesday, the release said.