A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on March 7 for the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority’s new electric maintenance crew field office in Fairview, following an OMPA presentation earlier in the day at the Fairview Chamber of Commerce.
The building is located at 2124 Commerce St. on the north side of Fairview, which has received its wholesale electric power from OMPA as a member since June of 1989.
The crew that will be based at the new building was established in response to a need five northwestern Oklahoma cities and towns – Fairview, Goltry, Laverne, Pond Creek and Waynoka – had for assistance with their electric distribution systems. Those OMPA members agreed to pool financial support to help fund the crew, while OMPA contracts with the crew to inspect and maintain its substations and transmission lines, replacing a contract with another utility that had been used.
In addition to regular maintenance work, the crew also provides much-needed assistance during outages, like the ones spread throughout the western half of the state following an ice storm in December.
OMPA was assisted in the establishment of the maintenance site by Major County Economic Development Corporation, which built the building that OMPA leases, as well as the City of Fairview, which agreed to house the crew while the office was being built.
OMPA General Manager David Osburn headlined a presentation to the Fairview Chamber of Commerce at its monthly luncheon earlier in the day. OMPA Chairman Charles Lamb and Director of Member Services Drake Rice also were in attendance.
