Power outages leave thousands fighting bitter cold in their homes after latest winter storm

 

NEW BERLIN, Wis. (CBS 58) – After Southeast Wisconsin was pummeled with snow, thousands of We Energies customers were left without power for days.

"It's just been basically freezing in the house. Waiting, waiting for the electricity to come back on," New Berlin resident Danny Reid said.

"We tacked a blanket up over one door here just to keep the warmth in here, so it doesn't go through the rest of the house, so it's in one spot."

Reid invited CBS 58 reporter Stephanie Rodriguez into his home on Monday, Jan. 15. He had been without power for three days, using his fireplace to keep himself, his fiancé, and his two cats warm.

"We literally have an RV that we tried to use, some power in there, then we realized we have to stay in the house because we can't really keep the cats in there or move everything in," he said. "It's harrowing. We're freezing in here."

A makeshift sleeping setup in his living room has helped them stay warm enough, but he could not work from home, use the bathroom, or cook.

"Our frozen milk and bags of everything from our refrigerator and freezer," Reid said about the produce he put on his patio after he lost power.

To turn on his, and thousands of other customers' heat, We Energies crews worked 16-hour shifts.

"So far, we've restored power to more than 255,000 people," We Energies spokesperson Brendan Conway said Monday afternoon.

"We have to run the numbers when this is all said and done, but this might be the largest storm restoration in our company's history."

It was an uphill battle for them as more people lost power as the days went on.

"New outages were coming in because the snow was just eventually weighing on branches, snapping, coming off," Conway explained.

This is one issue Reid would like to see We Energies address before winter by cutting down problematic trees, but the company said they are limited to only trimming trees within 10 feet of the main power lines.

"Look in our yard, there's one [tree] that fell right there," Reid said.

While he waited for his power, which came late Monday afternoon, Reid was thankful for the little warmth he created.

"We're lucky we have this stuff. We have a fireplace. There's a lot of houses that don't," he said.

For the latest up-to-date outage information or to report an outage to We Energies, click here.