Rochester Public Utilities (RPU) will send a crew of five lineworkers and one fleet worker to Kissimmee, Florida to help with the Hurricane Dorian response. The RPU team will leave on Saturday morning and will be away for at least two weeks depending on hurricane damage and crew response for restoration efforts.

The RPU crew will leave from the RPU Service Center along with approximately 15 other Minnesota utilities supplying 18 municipal line crews (42 lineworkers), along with 13 bucket trucks, 1 digger/derrick and several support vehicles. The RPU crew will bring two bucket trucks, with 55 and 48 foot booms.

The media is invited to meet with the RPU crew before they depart on Saturday morning. Interested media outlets can arrive at the RPU Service Center gate along East River Road at 8:30 a.m. No admittance will be permitted after 9 a.m.

RPU and other Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association (MMUA) utilities last helped with mutual aid back in 2017 with Hurricane Irma in Kissimmee, Florida and surrounding communities. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that 6.7 million Florida customers lost electricity due to the hurricane in 2017.

RPU will share updates and photos from the crew on their Facebook and Twitter pages. For more information regarding the response effort, contact Tony Benson at 507.280.1534 or 507.398.7250 (cell).

About Rochester Public Utilities

As the municipal utility of Rochester, Minn., for more than 110 years, RPU provides high-quality and reliable electricity to over 55,000 customers.  Water customers number more than 40,000.  RPU continually investigates innovative technologies to help customers realize the best value from the services they receive.  Current initiatives include photovoltaic offerings, wind energy, energy and water efficient equipment, and electric vehicle charging.

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The Rochester Public Utilities (RPU) crew of lineworkers that went to Florida to help with Hurricane Irma power restoration will be available to meet and share their experience with the media on Tuesday, September 26 at 3:30pm.

The RPU lineworkers left on Saturday, September 9^th along with crews from over 15 other Minnesota municipal utilities and returned back to Rochester on Thursday, September 21^st. The restoration effort began in Kissimmee, FL and then moved onto Lake Worth, FL who was also hit hard by hurricane damage.

According to the Kissimmee Utility Authority, at the peak of the storm over 38,000 of their 72,000 customers were without power.

The special media event will be held in the Community Room at the RPU Service Center before the RPU Board Meeting.

For more information, contact Tony Benson at 507.280.1534.

About Rochester Public Utilities

As the municipal utility of Rochester, Minn., for more than 110 years, RPU provides high-quality and reliable electricity to over 50,000 customers.  Water customers number more than 37,000.  RPU continually investigates innovative technologies to help customers realize the best value from the services they receive.  Current initiatives include photovoltaic offerings, wind energy, energy and water efficient equipment, and electric vehicle charging.

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Rochester Public Utilities (RPU) will send a crew of lineworkers to Kissimmee, Florida to help with the Hurricane Irma response. The lineworkers plan to leave on Saturday morning and could be away for up to three weeks depending on hurricane damage and crew response for restoration efforts.

The RPU crew will leave from the RPU Service Center along with approximately 15 other Minnesota municipal line crews, before heading to meet with Wisconsin crews on their way south to Florida. The RPU crew will bring along a bucket truck with a 55 foot boom and a digger derrick truck used for setting utility poles.

The media is invited to meet with the RPU crew before they depart on Saturday morning. Interested media outlets can arrive at the RPU Service Center gate along East River Road at 8:30 a.m. No admittance will be permitted after 8:30 a.m.

RPU will share updates and photos from the crew on their Facebook page. For more information regarding the response effort, contact Tony Benson at 507.280.1534 or 507.398.7250 (cell).

About Rochester Public Utilities

As the municipal utility of Rochester, Minn., for more than 110 years, RPU provides high-quality and reliable electricity to over 50,000 customers.  Water customers number more than 37,000.  RPU continually investigates innovative technologies to help customers realize the best value from the services they receive.  Current initiatives include photovoltaic offerings, wind energy, energy and water efficient equipment, and electric vehicle charging.

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An RPU crew along with crews from eight other Minnesota utilities left today for Long Island, New York to help with power restoration efforts.

According to a news release from the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), approximately 642,000 customers remained without power as of 10:00 a.m. on Friday, November 2. LIPA reached out to the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association for mutual aid assistance and had nine utilities answer the call. No return date has been set for the crews. Depending on the damage and work needed, crews could be in long Island, NY for an extended period of time.

RPU will try to post updates from the crews and photos as they are made available.

Crews heading to Long Island, NY

– Rochester Public Utilities
– Austin Utilities
– St. Peter Electric Utilities
– Brainerd Public Utilities
– Willmar Utilities
– Grand Rapids Public Utilities
– Chaska Electric Department
– Owatonna Public Utilities
– Hutchinson Utilities

The crews headed to Long Island, NY