October 5, 2020—The Kerrville Public Utility Board (KPUB) has received a national commendation from the American Public Power Association (APPA) for its 2020 support in electric power restoration efforts in Kirbyville, Texas, to Kirbyville Light & Power Co.
On August 27, 2020, KPUB sent six of its line workers to assist the City of Kirbyville in response to widespread outages the city experienced as a result of Hurricane Laura. The hurricane made landfall near Cameron, Louisiana, as a category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds. It began to weaken as it moved inland but caused significant impacts across portions of Louisiana and Eastern Texas, resulting in more than 1 million people losing power.
The crews returned to Kerrville on the evening of September 3, after successfully helping to restore power to the City of Kirbyville for eight days. This restoration trip marks the third time KPUB has restored power in Kirbyville after hurricanes, helping after both Hurricane Rita in 2005 and Hurricane Ike in 2008.
“Restoring power during major events like this gives our personnel valuable experience in dealing with widespread outages,” said Larry Lee, KPUB general foreman. “It’s long days and nights, but they love what they do and helping others in need. It’s a brotherhood in this line of work.”
The APPA Mutual Aid Commendation was established in 2018 to recognize public power utilities that have answered the call for assistance and aided another community in restoring power to its customers. KPUB has received this prestigious award from APPA twice now since it was established—now and in 2019 for their restoration efforts with three cities in Florida impacted by Hurricane Irma, the most powerful Atlantic hurricane in recorded history.
“As a community-owned utility company, mutual aid is at the heart of what we do,” said Mike Wittler, general manager and CEO of KPUB. “We step up to help a neighbor in need—whether they are next door or thousands of miles away.”
For more information on Kerrville Public Utility Board and its commitment to mutual aid, visit www.kpub.com or PublicPower.org/MutualAid.
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