"So it's slow going for us to get to those sites because of the snow and ice on the roads. And to pound that ice off the wires and to resectionalize the wires. So this morning was just slow going with the weather," said Rochelle Bissing, WPS Customer Service Manager.
Winter weather and high winds knocked out electricity to over two-hundred W-P-S customers around Green Bay and nearly 15-hundred in Door County. But heavier snow and gusty winds made restoring electricity around Door County far more challenging.
"They had a lot more wind off the bay. They had five-inches of snow in that area. So again they had that rain and the snow packed on the ice. So Sturgeon Bay was our problem this morning," said Bissing.
The rain and snow combination coated high tension transmission line. But the extra weight was not enough to keep the lines from touching during wind gusts. And that kept utility crews working repeatedly to restore power through the same lines.
"You could take the snow and ice off of one span of wire. And then the crews could start driving away. That wind picks up again two spans down from where they're at, that ice was still on there. Those wires came together," Bissing said.
WPS crews have been told to expect long days as cold temperatures and high winds are expected to continue through Thursday.
Local 5's Terry Kovarik has the story.
