Winter storm left its mark

Power was lost and water lines burst, but officials say that last week's frigid temperatures and snow could have caused more damage.

The most severe impacts occurred on Tuesday when the Southwest Power Pool instructed local energy entities to implement controlled interruptions of electrical service in Curry and Roosevelt counties.

Officials on Monday had asked customers to cut back on energy use, warning demand was exceeding availability.

"So much of our issue this time was beyond our immediate control, namely the curtailment of natural gas supplies to our power plants. Even so, we will continue to develop strategies for dealing with these types of contingencies. There are always ways to improve," Wes Reeves, spokesman for Xcel Energy in Texas and New Mexico said.

Controlled outages began Tuesday at 4 a.m. in Clovis and 6 a.m. in Portales and Texico for Xcel customers.

The areas that experienced the most outages included neighborhoods west of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and south of 21st Street, and neighborhoods south of Mabry Drive and east of U.S. in Clovis.

Temperatures at the Clovis airport dropped to 11 degrees below zero, and snowfall up to 4 inches was reported. Most of it last Sunday night and Monday morning, but flurries were reported much of the week as well.

'Weeks of discussion' ahead for energy providers

"We were actually much better prepared this time than 10 years ago when we endured a similar weather event," Reeves said.

"It's still a little early for us to list out the various lessons learned on the latest winter storm. ... I think it's safe to say there will be weeks of discussion on how to do better the next time, both in preventing outages and how effective we are at communicating with customers during emergency situations."

Thom Moore, director of member services at Farmers Electric Cooperative, said FEC decided to limit planned power interruptions to one hour when instruction from the SPP came through.

"Thankfully, throughout the event, FEC was able to avoid having to interrupt any one member more than once. A big part of what we considered success was our close working relationship with one of our larger industrial members, Southwest Cheese," Moore said.

Moore said officials with the cheese plant on the Curry/Roosevelt county line were willing to temporarily shut down part of the plant to reduce energy consumption.

"(Southwest Cheese) probably bore as much as 50% of our load shedding requirement at any given time. FEC is so fortunate to have that kind of cooperation with our members," Moore said.

"Additionally, had it not been for our overall membership reducing their electric demand leading up to and during the interruptions, there is no doubt that the period of interruptions and the number of members that were without power could have been substantially higher."

Moore said that other entities partnered with FEC like local healthcare facilities and nursing homes are given a "Tier-1 Critical Load" title due to their critical use of energy. Measures were taken to ensure they experienced as few power interruptions as possible.

"We cannot speak for other utilities, but our extensive training, the best employees, the best consumer/members, and the grace of God helped get us through this unprecedented time. We learned a lot and will work very hard to implement change where we see it is necessary," Moore said, adding that the flexibility, preparedness, and communication of their team helped make the best of the situation.

Clovis detention center had to move inmates

Local infrastructure was not left untouched by the cold weather.

"The most significant issue was the extreme cold, which cascaded to the power issues," Clovis/Curry County Emergency Management Director Dan Heerding said.

"Fortunately, we did not have any significant long power outages. Frozen pipes were an issue. Keep in mind this region is generally not subject to these temperatures, so our buildings are not made to the same standard as one would have in the northern areas."

Curry County Manager Lance Pyle said some county buildings were damaged due to the extreme cold. This included multiple water line breaks and ruptures in hot water tanks in the northwest and northeast mechanical rooms of the Curry County Adult Detention Center.

The west side of the facility lost water as a result, and staff moved detainees to the east side.

Those detainees were moved back Wednesday after repairs were made, Pyle said.

Another water line break caused by freezing pipes at the Curry County Administrative Complex resulted in minor water damage to walls in the electrical room and flooding in the county assessor and treasurer's offices. Those issues were repaired on Thursday.

"The County personnel monitored and responded quickly in addressing and mitigating any damage as a result," Pyle said. "Cost for repairs are not yet known and we are in the process of filing an insurance claim."

While the storm presented difficulties not previously seen, Heerding said precedent had helped officials prepare and last week's events may help with future storms.

"Several years ago we had the storm come through that is commonly know as Goliath. This storm resulted in improvements in many areas, such as diversifying our vehicle fleet with four-wheel drive capability," Heerding said.

"Adding extra insulation to keep pipes from freezing or even adding a generator capability to your home or business is something each one of us has to determine if the benefit equals the cost."