Crews respond after weekend storms

Over the weekend, as powerful storms swept across North Dakota and into Minnesota, thousands of residents were left in the dark. But behind the scenes, a monumental effort was already underway—Cass County Electric Cooperative (CCEC) and their power supplier, Minnkota Power, immediately mobilized to take on one of the worst weather-related outages the region has seen in decades.

Severe winds and trails of debris were left behind across both transmission and distribution systems after Friday night’s storm. Nearly 6,000 members lost power in the initial hours, and nine substations were offline. CCEC crews worked endless hours, despite extreme weather conditions and widespread damage.

Minnkota Power reported dozens of damaged transmission structures stretching from Center, ND to northeastern M.N. Downed poles, tangled lines and uprooted trees created dangerous obstacles across rural and urban areas.

By early Saturday morning, CCEC’s field crews and technicians were fully deployed, addressing outages across 20 substations. Simultaneously, Minnkota teams began assessing and repairing large-scale transmission damage. Both teams’ immediate focus was to establish backfeeds to help speed up restoration, however it was anticipated to be a multi-day outage.

By Sunday, crews continued their work under extreme heat and successfully restored substations in Arthur, Lisbon, and Fort Ransom. They replaced more than 150 poles, repaired hundreds of lines and navigated flooded or debris-covered roads to reach hard-hit communities. Throughout the day, nearly 1,900 accounts were restored.

As of Monday, Minnkota Power had restored service to all substations supplying members of Cass County Electric Cooperative. However, with significant damage still affecting the local distribution system, approximately 1,800 accounts remained without power. All available crew members were deployed to continue restoration efforts and address the remaining outages.

While restoring electricity was the priority, this response has been about more than repairing lines. It’s a reflection of community strength, teamwork and the dedication of those who stepped up when it mattered most. 

A heartfelt thank you to the crews at CCEC and Minnkota Power for keeping our communities safe. Your dedication, long hours and hard work during this weekend’s storm response did not go unnoticed.

To follow continued restoration progress or report damage, members are encouraged to use the CCEC app or visit the outage map at https://outage.kwh.com.