We Energies expects to restore power to all customers by Sunday afternoon, Wisconsin Public Service by Saturday evening
Wisconsin Public Service and We Energies say power will be restored to all affected customers by the end of the weekend, in the aftermath of Wednesday evening's statewide storms.
According to WEC Energy Group, the parent company of the two companies, Wisconsin Public Service expects to restore power to remaining customers with outages by the end of Saturday, while We Energies expects to complete repairs by Sunday afternoon.
More than 175,000 customers of the two electricity companies lost power Wednesday. WPS and WE Energies restored power to most customers by Thursday, but extensive damage, including broken circuits and snapped utility poles, has taken more time to fix in parts of the Fox Valley and Green Bay areas, WEC Energy Group Senior Communication Specialist Matt Cullen said in a statement.
Crew members have been working nonstop to repair damages from the storms, and WEC Energy Group thanks people for their patience, Cullen said.
The majority of people still dealing with outages are in the Fox Valley. As of 9 a.m. Saturday, 11,191 We Energies customers in Outagamie County remained without power. Meanwhile 2,178 customers in Waupaca County and 1,082 customers in Shawano County also were waiting on power restorations.
While the many damaged areas may not receive power until Sunday, We Energies estimates that most customers in the Fox Valley will have their lights back on by the end of Saturday, Cullen said.
The vast majority of WPS customers had power restored by Friday night. As of 9 a.m. Saturday, 2,026 customers in Brown County and 2,663 customers in Marinette County were without power.
Customers who receive FoodShare benefits through the State of Wisconsin who lost food due to a power outage or storm damage have 10 days to request replacement benefits, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Requests can be through a form, available online at the Wisconsin DHS website.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service work Saturday to restore power
