Black Hills Energy Bracing For Extreme Cold Weather This Weekend

Black Hills Energy is preparing for a weekend of frigid weather, strong winds, and bitterly cold temperatures this weekend in the Cheyenne area, according to a news release.

According to the release: "Black Hills Energy is closely monitoring the National Weather Service - WY forecast this week for a winter storm and extreme cold temperatures predicted to impact the region. Our Wyoming operations teams are preparing for possible snow accumulation, high winds, ice and below freezing temperatures, which are expected to last through early next week."

The Cheyenne Office of the National Weather Service is predicting low temperatures that could plunge to as cold as -19 degrees this weekend, with the highs possibly not rising above -3 degrees all weekend. Strong winds are also in the forecast, as are possible snow squalls.

Company spokeswoman Laurie Farkas is reminding people to clear snow away from their gas meter with their hand or a broom, and not to use an ice pick, shovel, or other sharp tools.

Electric Safety Advice

Regarding electric safety, the company offers the following tips:

• If your power goes out, see if your neighbors have power. If they do, check your home for blown fuses or a tripped circuit breaker.

• If your neighbors don't have power or if you can't locate the problem, report the outage at www.blackhillsenergy.com/outages.

• If you see damaged outdoor electric power equipment, please contact us at 1-800-890-5554.

• Do not try to remove any debris if it is on a powerline or outdoor electrical equipment.

• If you are outdoors, never touch or attempt to pick up a fallen powerline. Assume any downed power line is energized.

• During an outage, unplug sensitive computer and electronic equipment or protect them with a high-quality surge protector.