North Dakota LIVING is the voice of Touchstone Energy Cooperatives in our state. Through North Dakota LIVING, our cooperatives sustain positive relationships with their members, publishing local co-op information just for them.

January 2010 will long be remembered for the stern challenge winter hurled at many parts of North Dakota. But, it will also be marked as yet another magnificent example of the heroism and unselfishness for which North Dakotans have long been known.

Starting Jan. 20, several inches of dense frost and ice coated electric cooperative power poles and lines. Unable to withstand the added weight and the wind, cooperative power poles snapped off and fell to the ground by the thousands.

Electric co-ops in North Dakota have tallied in excess of 3,200 poles knocked down by the storm. Co-op and state officials indicate 6,200 electric consumers in North Dakota suffered power outages as a result of the damage.

The March edition of the North Dakota LIVING photo feature illustrates vividly how electric cooperatives and their members mobilized to restore power. Staff colleagues Clarice Kesler, J.C. Balcom, and Larry Sailer of the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC) followed line crews working to restore power for two affected cooperatives, capturing these images. If you would like a copy of the March edition please contact us...

To see photos and video of the storm visit our Storm & Restoration Media Gallery