Power Restored To Thousands Of South Dakota Residents
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Officials say power has been restored to thousands of residents in northeastern South Dakota who were hit by the Christmas weekend ice and wind storm.
East River Electric Power Cooperative representatives say crews began re-energizing the lines Thursday night and many households were online by Friday morning. Power is expected to be restored to remaining members by the end of the weekend, if the weather cooperates.
Authorities say the Western Area Power Administration's substation in the Summit area lost structures in all three of its high-voltage substation feeds. That substation provides power to the East River Electric Power Cooperative.
East River's transmission system suffered severe damage to almost 500 structures. Officials say there is still ice on lines and substations so high winds could continue to cause outages.
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