Middle Tennessee Electric employees are prepared for Mother Nature, if we should have any cold weather problems later this week. MTEMC Communications Coordinator Todd Palmer says their on-call crews are ready to work as long as it takes to get power restored if freezing rain brings down lines. He says crews have already made sure company trucks have fuel, chainsaws and other necessary equipment are ready to go. Palmer says the cooperative has a tree trimming program that cuts back trees on a yearly basis to keep them from encroaching into the utilities power lines, just for reasons such as this.

He says 8 out of ten times when power is lost during storms like this it's caused by a tree or limb contacting the power lines. Palmer also encourages members to stay away from downed power lines and to report them immediately to the electric cooperative at 1-877-777-9020.