CORRRECTION: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of Kentucky Utilities spokesperson, Daniel Lowry. The error has been corrected. (Nov. 29, 2023.)

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky is cooling down as winter creeps in and power outages become a possible threat. 

Kentucky Utilities spokesperson, Daniel Lowry says their line workers, and electric and utility techs are preparing for severe winter weather around the bluegrass. 

That could look like stronger winds, snow and ice storms, and major temperature drops.  

Last winter, there were several instances in which different areas of the state experienced critical winter weather emergencies resulting in downed power lines, trees blocking access and appliances freezing or malfunctioning. 

“When you deal with cold weather and winter conditions, you need strong poles, you need strong wires. We have automated equipment, too. That helps,” Lowry said. 

Their line workers and techs are equipped to respond in a reasonable time and fashion when severe weather strikes. “It may take us a while to assess the damages to be able to get those times. So in cases where we have really big storms with thousands of customers, it may take a few hours or maybe a day to get those times in there,” he said. 

Lowry says that they have updated their services that makes seeing real-time outages possible.

He also says sometimes they are tasked with working through tough conditions for hours.

“Our crews have been here for decades, many years, and they care about trying to get power back when it does get knocked out. They work hard year-round to maintain the system.” Lowry explained.