Lineman with an electric co-op that serves far southwestern North Dakota still have their hands full dealing with downed poles from a snow and ice storm Friday.

Pat McGee, of rural Rhame, finally got back on Slope Electric's grid Monday night. He said he got by with a small gasoline generator and the moisture sure was a fair trade for his trouble.

"It's getting green," he said.

Some 40 ranchers, including McGee, and homes south of Rhame and Marmarth all had power restored by Monday night. That was nearly five full days after rain, followed by ice, followed by sticky snow had the unwelcome side effect of snapping 250 poles and about 13 miles of line.

It'll be the end of this week before more than 200 remote oil wells and 100 pasture water wells in that rough Little Missouri River country are reconnected, said co-op spokeswoman LaWanna Wilhelm. Repairs will cost about $250,000.

Slope co-op only has to look one co-op to the south to count its blessings.

Its troubles pale compared to what happened to Grand Electric Co-op of Bison, S.D., the next co-op to the south. More than 3,500 poles and line snapped off in a cascade of damage in the same, though heavier, storm.

The storm blanked out power to little towns like Bison and Buffalo, S.D., ranches and oil wells alike encompassing nearly 4,000 square miles of countryside.

It'll be days and possibly weeks before all of Grand Electric's customers are back on line. More than 500 residences were still out Tuesday.

Grand manager Jerry Reisenauer said this was the worst storm in the co-op's history and damages are likely to come to more than $3 million.

He said 125 linemen and equipment operators were at work Tuesday, with hundreds of customers still waiting to get back on the grid, though many are old hands and have backup generators.

"It's the price you pay when you wish for moisture," he said.

Reisenauer said when crews from North Dakota wrap up repairs at Slope Electric, they'll make their way to his territory. He expects to have nearly 200 people at work by the end of the week, stuffed into every vacant motel room far and wide.

"It goes pretty fast with a bunch of determined linemen," he said. "These guys have breakfast at 5 a.m. and don't see their beds until 11 p.m."

Grand Electric has only had two years to the day - May 1 - to recover from the other worst storm damage in its history. That storm took down 1,200 poles in April 2006.

Then, federal disaster money kicked into help pay for co-op repairs and Reisenauer said he's hoping the same help comes through this time.

Don Franklund, co-manager at Slope Electric, said they'll send help down to Grand Electric as soon as their manpower has a chance to recover from 16-hour days.

Meanwhile, Montana-Dakota Utilities is serving the whole town of Camp Crook, S.D., with an emergency generator and Southeast Electric Cooperative, based in Ekalaka, Mont., sustained substantial damage.

McGee, south of Rhame, said that from his place he can still see snow on the hilltops out in the Ekalaka country.

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@westriv.com.)