Almost 270 contract workers are being sent to Florida by Xcel Energy to assist with restoring power to communities that have been left devastated by Hurricane Ian.
The group includes men and women from Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Mexico, and Texas, according to Marty Mensen, the Regional Vice President of Distribution Operations for Xcel Energy in St. Paul.
“This is what they do, and this is what they’re prepared for. They can do a pretty quick turnaround and have themselves ready and on the road and ready to head down towards any type of disaster on any short notice,” Mensen said. “Typically, it will be about a 24-hour turnaround.”
Xcel Energy is part of the Edison Electric Institute’s Mutual Assistance program that responds to areas hit by major storms that bring significant outages. Mensen says crews face many dangers once they are on site.
The company’s CEO and president, Bob Frenzel, shared that all of the electric industry is always willing to help when needed.
“When the call for help comes in, Xcel Energy and the entire electric industry answers that call.” Frenzel said in a release. “We know they would do the same for us. It’s imperative that the electric companies work together as we see storms intensify due to climate change.”
Mensen shared that the work contractors will do isn’t easy, as wide-scale disasters such as Hurricane Ian present several other challenges, but they do it nonetheless.
“There are dangers obviously of high voltage lines on the ground. There’s also other infrastructure that’s damaged. Roads are damaged, trees are laying down,” Mensen said. “Every type of damage that you can imagine is what these people will encounter when they go down there.”
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