Power outages bring electric suppliers under scrutiny

The massive power outages that have rocked, and continue to rock, southwest Missouri over the past six days, have a member of the Public Service Commission saying it is time for something to be done.
In reporter Marcus Kabel's article for Associated Press, Robert Clayton says it is time for power companies to think about burying more lines and using stronger materials:

"We've been told we had the storm of the century in 2004, then there was one in 2005, then there were three in 2006. If weather patterns have changed, and I don't know that they have, then we have to change the way we're thinking about utility reliability," Clayton told The Associated Press. "I think all utilities in the state have room for improvement because it seems that the storm patterns we are facing are causing outages on a more frequent basis."