According to a report from The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina have more than 3,200 line workers laboring around the clock to turn the lights back on after Hurricane Helene, a workforce that includes crews from at least 23 states as well as mutual aid crews from eight fellow S.C. co-ops that have already finished their restoration work.
With their help, S.C. electric co-ops have now restored power to more than 363,000 consumers statewide in the week since Helene tore through the Palmetto State.
More than 85.4% of the 425,000 cooperative members who lost power were back online as of 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 4.Less than 7% of the cooperative statewide system – about 62,000 meters – remain without power, with most of those remaining outages located in the hard-hit Upstate and along the Palmetto State’s western border.
There, Helene has proven one of the most destructive storms in state history. Parts of the co-op system still remain inaccessible due to downed trees and debris. Large stretches of the co-op system suffered damage beyond repair and must be rebuilt.
Locally, Coastal Electric Cooperative have been working hard and steadily to bring everyone in Colleton County back online. Speaking with Samantha Jones of CEC, she reported that at the peak there were 11,500 outages and as of October 4th they were down to 13. This number could fluctuate depending on where the crews are in the repairs. There were more than 100 downed poles in the CEC coverage area. It takes approximately 2-4 hours and multiple crew members to change these poles out. It is a very time consuming process. Three sister cooperatives have sent over 60 lineman to assist CEC some from as far away as Maine.
A few key points on the ongoing restoration effort:
Co-ops helping co-ops: Every S.C. cooperative has line crews working to restore power to South Carolinians. Crews from co-ops that are back online are now working to restore power for their fellow co-ops in the Upstate.
For the latest updates on power restoration efforts, please visit ecsc.org or follow us @SCcooperatives.
The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, Inc. is the state association of independent, member-owned electric cooperatives. Nearly 2 million South Carolinians in all 46 counties use power provided by 18 electric cooperatives to 800,000 accounts. Together, electric cooperatives operate the state’s largest electric power system with 75,000 miles of power line. Find more information at www.ecsc.org.
