Electric Membership Cooperatives (EMCs) Making Great Progress Today

TUCKER, Ga., Feb. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- At 4 p.m., EMCs are reporting approximately 39,500 customers without power, down from 57,500 earlier today. Since Monday night, EMCs have restored service to nearly 95,000 customers in areas of northeast Georgia which took the brunt of damage caused by thick ice on trees and power lines.

Many areas have been impassable due to trees and other debris in road ways and on electric lines, limiting the crews' access to damaged areas. Ultimately, crews began the difficult task of re-building power lines and replacing hundreds of broken power poles.

The rate of restoration is also dependent upon the level of difficulty of each repair and other factors such as extent of damage and location. For example, power lines in some of these remote areas do not always follow a paved road way; many lines cross rugged terrain and present unique challenges.

Affected EMCs have called upon hundreds of additional line crews and now have access to a large contingent of local EMC crews, EMC line workers from other parts of the state, private contract crews, additional right-of-way crews, as well as line crews from Virginia, Alabama and Florida working non-stop to restore service.

Heaviest damage occurred in Forsyth, Hall, Gwinnett, Lumpkin, Dawson, Cherokee, Jackson, Banks, Barrow, Habersham and White counties. This afternoon, most EMCs estimate that the majority of customers will be restored within 24-48 hours, while some outages will take longer due to the extent of damage and because they are located in isolated areas.

The public should be especially careful of areas where line trucks and utility vehicles are working and stay clear of roadways. Poles are being erected and power cable is being strung, and crews need a wide work area in order to finish these jobs safely.

Georgia EMC is the statewide trade association representing the state's 41 EMCs, Oglethorpe Power Corp., Georgia Transmission Corp. and Georgia System Operations Corp.  Collectively, Georgia's customer-owned EMCs provide electricity and related services to 4.4 million people, half of Georgia's population, across 73 percent of the state's land area.

Note: Another update is scheduled for 8 p.m.

SOURCE Georgia EMC

Related Links

http://www.georgiaemc.com

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