A representative of the Municipal Electric Authority Georgia says he’d need time to study reports to see why some residents of West Point are reporting power surges.

“I’d need more time to talk to the people who did the initial investigation,” said David Weekly, assistant to the vice president of transmission for MEAG, of which West Point is a member.

Weekly said most electrical appliances come with their own equipment that protects each device in the case of a surge.

Beallwood Drive resident Dale Cook spoke to City Council on Monday night with several other residents in tow complaining of the same problem - power surges have fried a number of electrical appliances in their homes. Cook said she’s lost $9,000 worth of appliances; if her refrigerator and freezer are lost, she will lose about $2,000 in food.

“This could happen to any one of you,” Cook told council members. “Would you be able to afford it?”

Cook suggested the city implement a program similar to that of Diverse Power. For a monthly fee, a meter base protector stops power surges before appliances inside the home are affected.

“The city did install a ‘lightning arrester’ which was supposed to stop it,” Cook said.

It didn’t, and a few weeks after the arrester was installed, a surge took out her computer router.

Cook said she’d considered filing an open records request to find out how often the city’s electric system is maintained. In response to her visit to Monday night’s council meeting, the city invited Weekly and Chris Carter, a senior engineer with Electric Cities of Georgia, to talk about what’s been done to the city’s system.

Carter said $350,000 in capital improvements to West Point’s electric system were done in the last two years, and another $220,000 were planned for 2010. Weekly said West Point’s power system is “modern and up to date.”

“With all that money you’re spending, why can’t you fix a problem on one street?” asked resident Jean Ennis, who also has been affected.

Mayor Drew Ferguson IV said city staff would work with the residents to find the source of the power problem.

Jennifer Shrader may be reached at jshrader@lagrangenews.com or at (706) 884-7311, Ext. 236.