Midwest Energy Receives Nearly $8 Million in Storm Reimbursements

HAYS, Kan - In recent weeks, Midwest Energy received $7.92 million in reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and the State of Kansas, to repair electrical systems damaged by storms in 2006 and 2012. Most people who were Midwest Energy customers in December 2006 remember the huge ice storm which hit just before New Years Day, damaging or breaking 2,820 poles and downing more than 907 miles of line. It took four years and more than 10,000 hours of work by the entire Midwest Energy team to right the damage caused by that storm.

In late July, Midwest Energy received the 48th and final FEMA and the State of Kansas reimbursement for $6.142 million. The total cost of the project, known as “FEMA 2,” was $82 million, with $67 million of that cost reimbursed by FEMA and the state.On April 14, 2012, a series of tornadoes ravaged seven western and central Kansas counties, downing 526 poles and 24 miles of line belonging to Midwest Energy. Midwest Energy’s FEMA accounting team spent 250 hours compiling five rebuild submittals.

In early September a check for $1.778 million arrived from FEMA and the state.“At a time when the company’s construction budget is already heavy, unexpected large replacement projects due to storms can place a heavy burden on our finances,” said Tom Meis, Midwest Energy’s Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer. “It’s good to have FEMA reimbursements to offset most of the cost of these projects, which would otherwise be paid for by our customers over time through rates.”