Rebuilding Stronger
By Vince Martinez
Mora-San Miguel is building back better.
Although the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire was three years ago, the destruction of lives, homes and infrastructure endures. Mora-San Miguel Electric Cooperative lost 2,800 electric poles—more than three-quarters of the 3,700 poles in the burn area. To the credit of MSMEC’s hardworking employees and leadership, about 87% have been replaced so far.
Immediately after the fire, Mora-San Miguel borrowed more than $7 million from its federal lender to begin the recovery effort. Along with the slow Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursements, Mora-San Miguel has actively pursued grants and other funds to ensure the timely restoration of reliable electric service. Recently, Mora-San Miguel received a $16.58 million USDA Grid Resiliency Improvement Project grant to complete a three-phase fire mitigation project.
At the same time, MSMEC is implementing a major hazard tree removal project, which will remove more than 100,000 hazard trees within the burn scar. Hazard trees can damage the recently rebuilt power lines. MSMEC is awaiting the release of additional funding from the secretary of Homeland Security to begin the removal of these threatening trees.
Mora-San Miguel’s undertaking is grid modernization at its best. The fire mitigation project will include new poles coupled with the latest technology in system operations. Within five years, this will make the Mora-San Miguel electric system one of the most modern in the country. Some of the new technology can cut power to a line within a split second of a branch or tree falling on the line, preventing any fires started by specific acts of God.
Along with other New Mexico cooperatives that have been affected by wildfires, we applaud Mora-San Miguel for all its efforts. We thank MSMEC’s members for their patience with the restoration and modernization of their infrastructure.