A new task force is being established to take a look at the state’s response to the winter storm that hit Arkansas last month.
Gov. Hutchinson signed the executive order Wednesday saying “This is the time to learn from what we went through,” Hutchinson said during a news conference at his office.
The state experienced 5 to 10 inches of snow from Feb. 16 to Feb. 18 causing 50,000 Arkansans to lose power. To make things worse, many were without water due to frozen and burst pipes as temperatures in the state were unseasonably cold.
The Energy Resources Planning Taskforce was created to assess how power administrators, utility companies, and state agencies responded in order to improve the state’s approach in the future, the governor said. He expects them to report their findings by Sept. 30.
Members of the committee include the secretary of Energy and Environment for Arkansas, the director of the Oil and Gas Commission, the director of the Liquified Petroleum Gas Board and the secretary of the Department of Commerce.
