Suppliers struggle to keep up with utility pole demand

• Number of poles sent to area will match Katrina
• Utitilies say, however, there are no shortages
• Larger challenge has been getting repair trucks into neighborhoods

An earlier version of this story misstated the dimensions of Class 1 and Class 2 utility poles.

One of the challenges in restoring power to the millions who were left in the dark following Hurricane Sandy has been more than impassable roads or contracting enough work crews.

It's also been maintaining a steady supply of utility poles to the impacted areas.

Armies of flatbed trucks stacked with the 40-foot-long poles have been clamoring across U.S. highways to reach the impacted areas and replace utility poles knocked down or splintered by Sandy. Still, suppliers have struggled to keep up with demand, especially for thicker poles, known as Class 1 and Class 2, that are used widely across the East Coast but harder to come by, said Chris Slonaker, a sales manager for Bridgewell Resources, one of the suppliers.

The number of new utility poles sent to areas ravaged by Sandy is on pace to match that delivered after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, he said. Suppliers dispatched about 100,000 poles to the devastated Gulf Coast in the wake of those storms, according to the North American Wood Pole Council.

"All the plants I know are trying to get as many of the larger sized [poles] as they can right now," Slonaker said. "It's been a real challenge."

As of Friday, more than 400,000 customers in the New York-New Jersey area remained without power as a result of Sandy, which barreled into the region Oct. 29, killing more than 100 people and causing more than $50 billion in damages.

Utility companies in the impacted areas say the supply of utility poles has not slowed restoration efforts. Power was expected to return this weekend for the majority of those still without power, according to the companies.

"There are no supply shortages," said Ron Morano, a spokesman for Jersey Central Power & Light. "We have enough poles. We have enough wire. We have enough transformers. … We're adequately stocked and making our repairs."

Truckloads of poles have been streaming into the New York area to help restore power to the 1 million Con Edison customers who lost power in New York, said Con Ed spokesman Michael Clendenin said. The company has bought about a six-month supply of poles the past week, he said. All New York customers should have power back by the weekend. "We can start to see the end zone," Clendenin said.

As Sandy menaced offshore in the Atlantic, utility companies across the East Coast began stockpiling poles, Slonaker said. After the storm's landfall, power companies ramped up their orders. In the 10 days since Sandy hit, Bridgewell Resources has shipped out 7,000 poles – about 14 times the amount it usually ships in that time period, he said.

Many of the power companies have been requesting the thicker Class 1 poles, which are at least 27 inches around at the top, and Class 2 poles, which are at least 25 inches around, Slonaker said. Coastal cities commonly use the thicker poles to prevent them from snapping under strong seaborne storms. The number of thicker poles is dwindling fast, he said. The poles originate as Southern pines and are usually 40 to 45 feet tall.

"We could get many thousands of the skinny pines," Slonaker said. "But you can only find so many of those big-growth pines that could make the large classes."

To keep up with demand, work crews have sawed off the tops of longer poles to meet the thickness criteria and attached stakes to sides of trucks to increase their fleet of flatbed trucks, he said. Slonaker said he didn't think the supply of poles was slowing restoration efforts because his drivers have noticed piles of poles at the yards where they've delivered their stock. "You don't get a sense that the power companies are waiting around for poles," he said.

New Jersey Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula, the Democratic chairman of the telecom and utilities committee, said he had heard complaints of power companies not having enough poles but didn't think it was hampering efforts to restore power to the region. A bigger issue has been the power companies' inability to communicate their plan of action in time of disaster, he said. Loss of power was also a major issue last year when Hurricane Irene hit the region, Chivukula said.

"It's been better than in Hurricane Irene," he said of the restoration effort, "but we have a long way to go."

Cox Industries, another pole supplier, has shipped out 5,000 poles since the start of the storm – about the amount the company sends to a client in the course of a year, spokesman Keith Harris said. The company has met the oversized demand, he said.

A larger challenge has been getting their trucks down roads clogged with storm debris or closed to traffic, Harris said. "It's not a supply issue as much as a logistics issue," he said.