The following statement was issued today (Oct. 24) by David Horton, superintendent of public affairs and communication for Riviera Utilities:

FOLEY - Riviera Utilities has contracted the upgrading of its distribution system on Highway 98 serving Rock Creek, Montrose and the surrounding areas.

Recently, while under construction, and due to conditions with the weather, there have been incidents with the temporary construction cross arms that hold to the main poles causing outages to occur.

On one occasion, a concrete pole at the end of the line broke causing an outage. On two other occasions, the cross arms holding the temporary wire collapsed causing outages.

In each of these cases, weather conditions with wind and colder temperatures have been the main cause of the outages during the construction phase.

Beginning today, construction crews will be working to reinforce the cross arms to reduce the possibility for more outages.

We would like for our customers to understand that we are concerned about the outages and are working diligently to complete this project as soon as possible. It is our sole purpose to provide them with reliable power to their homes.

Riviera Utilities serves approximately 37,570 electric customers, 3,556 gas customers, 9,163 water customers, 4,257 wastewater customers and 6,269 cable customers in South Baldwin County.