Bad weather has never been a stranger to Columbia and Marion County. Whether it has something to do with our close proximity to the Pearl River or our geographic coordinates in south Mississippi, there's no doubt we've endured more than our fair share of nature's wrath.
Although it's commonplace to lose electric power during a storm, it's comforting for many local residents to know that help is not far away in the form of Pearl River Valley Electric Power Association.
Since it originated in 1938, PRVEPA has grown and evolved over the past 83 years to its current status of serving 51,000 members in 12 surrounding counties and maintaining more than 6,000 miles of power line as of today.
Leif Munkel, manager of member services at PRVEPA, told members of the Columbia Rotary Club this week that the last 12 months have been the busiest storm season on record.
Munkel, a native of Minnesota, joined PRVEPA about a year ago and said he's very proud to work for such an established and important company that maintains as its priority the best interest of its membership and the community.
One example of PRVEPA's commitment to the area is a special program called Round Up For Education. Since 2013, PRVEPA has given a financial boost to more than 1,652 students attending community colleges. Through 2020, they have collected $1.6 million from members who have rounded-up their power bills monthly to the nearest dollar.
During his presentation, Munkel detailed a series of storm-related response statistics from last year that included not only local damage repairs, but also joint assistance PRVEPA provided to other electric power cooperatives in their network.
"Many people will remember around last Easter and on April 19, when there were 19 tornadoes within a two-week period," Munkel said. "Those catastrophic events, EF3 and EF4 tornadoes, resulted in 385 broken poles and 12,000 power outages."
He mentioned the 2020 hurricane season also brought some considerable problems to the area, for instance when Hurricane Zeta hit around Oct. 28 and sat in the gulf churning for several days. Zeta caused some major infrastructure damage and was responsible for 230 broken poles and 15,000 outages.
"Even the recent Winter Storm Uri on Feb. 15 caused considerable issues and required a two-to-three-day recovery period," Munkel said. "Those extra few following days of freezing temperatures didn't help either. This storm caused 17 broken poles and 3,500 outages."
This level of workload, Munkel said, requires an enormous amount of manpower and man hours from a very dedicated workforce of linemen. As a special recognition to honor their efforts, PRVEPA has designated April 12 as Linemen Appreciation Day.
"It's very important to us for our members and all the communities we serve to know about our deep commitment and continued dedication to provide a pathway to economic development, through both large and small groups," Munkel said. "We're also working hard to improve our relationships with all the media outlets, including our updated website, as well as Facebook and Twitter accounts that were established last year. All of these efforts are to help keep our members better informed, especially during natural disasters."
Munkel also introduced the company's upcoming plan to launch Pearlcomm Fiber, a new level of high-speed internet for their service area. In 2020, particularly during the pandemic, Munkel said PRVEPA recognized the need for this service because many areas were underserved and struggling with challenges like remote learning requirements.
"After extensive research, we chose to partner with Conexon, who is an industry leader in broadband fiber networks," he said. "It will involve installing 4,700 miles of fiber and be implemented through a five-year plan until 100% completion. But we expect construction to begin this summer, and areas that are determined to need it most will start pre-registration in the coming months."
Munkel said the overall fiber project is a seven-step process, which they are currently in the first step. Pricing models for the plans are still under review, but he said they're expected to be competitive in the marketplace.
