Electric Co-Ops Answer Pleas for Help in Kentucky

/PRNewswire/ -- Facing the biggest natural disaster in the state's history, Kentucky has called upon EMCs in Georgia for the second time in recent days to send additional crews and equipment to restore electricity to approximately 500,000 cooperative consumers.

Last week, 12 EMCs from Georgia and Georgia Transmission Corp. sent nearly 100 line workers to help sister cooperatives repair extensive damage in the aftermath of the worst and most destructive storm to ever hit the region. Heavy snow and thick ice brought down trees and power lines causing approximately $63 million in cooperative damages.

"A lineman from Sumter EMC in Americus said it's the worst storm he has seen in his career," noted Jim Wright, vice president of training, education and safety with Georgia EMC. "And he's been in the industry for almost 50 years."

Recognizing the daunting task of getting the lights back on, Georgia's EMCs have deployed an additional 150 workers from 29 EMCs, bringing the total number of Georgia co-op employees in Kentucky to nearly 250. Due to the extent and widespread nature of damage, crews from Georgia could be there up to three weeks.

"We've gotten reports of 10,000 broken poles," said Wright. "That's hard to imagine because resetting poles is backbreaking work and slow going, yet it never dampens the spirits of these men. They will not rest until the lights come on."

"Every co-op member in Georgia would be proud of the job they're doing under extremely harsh conditions," Wright says.

The crews are providing assistance through mutual aid agreements between the nation's nearly 1,000 electric cooperatives to help one another during natural disasters, including storm restoration efforts.

In total, more than 900 electric co-op employees are working long hours, seven days a week, to help repair distribution lines and substations damaged by the winter storm. In addition to assistance from Georgia, help is also coming from Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page