Springfield utility puts ice storm costs at $28.5 million

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- Repairs after January's ice storm cost nearly twice as much as first estimated by Springfield City Utilities, rising to $28.5 million as the utility had to hire outside crews to restore lines and cut tree limbs, officials said.

The City Utilities board voted to dip into the utility's emergency reserves but hopes to recover about 85 percent of the repair costs from the federal and state emergency management agencies.

CU initially estimated its ice storm costs at $15 million, but the amount has risen to $28.5 million, chief financial officer Jim Shuler said.

CU spent $6.3 million on its own crews and materials and $22.2 million hiring outside line crews, tree trimmers and electrical workers.

Wade Stinson, CU's operations manager, said CU's initial storm damage estimate was outstripped by the unexpected scale of the cleanup effort.

"The sheer volume of people we brought in, that continued to grow as we realized the extent of the storm, increased that total cost," he said. "We just haven't had anything of this magnitude here."

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Information from: Springfield News-Leader, http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com