By Chet McWhorter, Cuming County Public Power District general manager

    A major priority of all public power systems is to provide reliable service to our customers 24/7/365. Of course, we aren’t perfect, there will always be storms and unexpected incidents. Because weather is always changing, PPDs have emergency response plans in place for these types of events that have a high probability of happening in our area. Storm outages, whether they be winter storms or tornados or straight-line winds are a reality in Nebraska, and it is very important that we are always prepared to react in a swift, logical manner. I always remember what the philosopher Aristotle said, “It is likely that something unlikely will happen.”  
    One vital detail of these plans is Mutual Aid. When a storm hits that is too large for our employees to handle, we can quickly get in touch with our industry partners to get additional help headed our way. Our public power partners send great crews of linemen with equipment to help us out. When linemen from other districts show up it is a great example of service and sacrifice. They leave their responsibilities at home and put their personal lives on hold for the duration of an event and really show us the best of humanity. It is encouraging to witness these guys showing up to work in terrible conditions in an area that is not familiar to them and to help people that they’ve never met and will likely never see again. A highlight is seeing the trucks from neighboring districts rolling in to go to work here but the view of them going home after a storm is much more beautiful to me!   
    Of course, the most important thing to me is that throughout all the work before, during, and after a storm, there are no safety incidents involving any of our employees, mutual aid personnel, or any member of the public. A huge advantage among the NREA membership is that we all utilize the same safety manual and apprenticeship training requirements. This leads to a higher level of communication and understanding amongst our linemen which also leads to excellent safety outcomes. We anticipate stellar performance from our linemen and field personnel, and it is the expectation that we hold them to. We hold that there is no job so important that it can’t be done safely and public power employees prove that repeatedly.  
    As of 2024, Nebraska ranked number three in the U.S. in terms of electric reliability per the Citizens Utility Board who is tasked with compiling data from all electricity providers across the country. While third out of fifty is pretty good, we will not rest on this, and we will continue to invest in grid hardening, tree trimming, and maintenance programs to achieve the highest level of reliability. Additionally, it is comforting to know that we are here for each other should one of us get hit by a storm or other calamity. Partnership truly is the best of public power.