What caused Cumberland Electric power outages?

Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation crews responded to power outages throughout the day Sunday and into the early-morning hours Monday. Outages — apparently weather-related — affected more than 19,000 residents in the company’s service area.

The company, a nonprofit electric cooperative headquartered in Clarksville with several district offices throughout its five-county service area, posted updates to Facebook and Twitter. Tweets reported the number of members affected and assured that crews were working to restore power.

“All power was restored early this morning to those affected by the 12/9 winter storm,” the company tweeted shortly after 10 a.m. Monday. “Sleet/freezing rain caused more than 500 separate outages, affecting more than 19,000 members across our service area.”

Hundreds of outages affected thousands of residents in the company’s service area, which spans Cheatham, Montgomery, Robertson, Stewart and Sumner counties. Nearly 13,000 of more than 97,000 Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation members are in Cheatham County.

“The winter storm caused significant damage to CEMC’s system,” a Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation Facebook post states. “As many as 12,300-plus members were without power at the peak, with Robertson County being the most affected area.”

CEMC Spokesperson Julie Wallace said in an email that more than 6,700 members were affected in Robertson County. About 3,000 were affected in Cheatham County.

Crews from other co-ops had to be called in to help.

“We apologize for the inconvenience and will have power restored as quickly as possible,” the company stated in a tweet, adding: “We have received many reports of trees in lines as well as wire down.

“Falling and sagging trees continue to cause outages throughout out service area,” it reported. “Restoration work is difficult and slow…Ice weighing on tree limbs is still causing outages,” as of 1:15 p.m. Sunday. “Remember to stay safe and report any electrical emergencies by calling 911.”

Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation states that members can report outages by calling 1-800-987-2362 or using the SmartHub app. View outages on the Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation’s map.

Kelly Fisher, reporter for the Ashland City Times, can be reached at KPFisher@gannett.com, 615-801-3866 or on Twitter at @KellyPFisher.