OUTAGE UPDATE 4:20 PM 6/16
My fellow members,
We are pleased to report that we have restored power to all of our members. We want to sincerely thank each of our affected members for their patience and for their prayers.
We would also like to thank the following organizations for providing extra assistance during this restoration effort.
Central Georgia EMC
Irwin EMC
Middle Georgia EMC
Mitchell EMC
Sawnee EMC
Walton EMC
Washington EMC
S&S Construction
MDR Construction
Thank you again for your patience and support through this power restoration effort.
Sincerely,
Danny Nichols
President/CEO
OUTAGE UPDATE FROM OUR PRESIDENT/CEO
Friday, June 16 8:45 AM
My fellow members,
We are pleased to report that the number of meters without power is under 700.
150 crew personnel worked through the night and significant progress was made. We sincerely hope that we will have power restored before lunch. Please keep in mind that there will be some outliers that will require significant clean up of trees and other issues. This may extend the outage in these areas.
At Colquitt EMC we pride ourselves on providing what we believe to be good service and reliability. Events such as the ones we have seen over the last 60 hours are humbling. We still believe that we provide that good service to our membership, but we recognize that providing good service is always a work in progress.
As you have heard me say in the past, Colquitt EMC has over 72,000 meters and over 9,000 miles of power lines. This places us as the 4th largest EMC in the state of 41 EMCs. Maintaining service on such a large distribution system is indeed a challenge. Mother nature is beautiful, but there are times when she is not kind. We live in the real world where wind, trees, lightning and animals all exist. Each of these causes challenges to maintain service for you, our members.
I would like to say how appreciative we are at the EMC for the patience and support that we have received by the vast majority of our membership. Our goal is and has always been to provide the best possible service at the lowest possible cost. We will remain committed to this goal. Once again, thank you for your patience and prayers. Maybe the sun will shine today.
Sincerely,
Danny Nichols
OUTAGE UPDATE 4:40 PM 6/15
As of 4:40 PM, we are currently below 3,600 meters without power. Although that number seems large, it is a far cry from what we have experienced over the last 48 hours. At its peak, we had over 23,000 meters without power.
We now feel we have a good handle on the outages affecting our system. We are working diligently to restore service to those that are still affected. We will continue to work through the night. Colquitt EMC has over 25 crews working to restore power. We have been fortunate to receive mutual aid from other EMCS who have also provided us with their contract crews. We expect to have the vast majority of outages restored tomorrow morning.
As in all things, we appreciate the patience and support of our members. We are also grateful for all of the men and women who have worked in these difficult conditions.
In my 13 years as President/CEO, these last 48 hours have been the most difficult we have faced. We hope to have more good news tomorrow morning. Once again, your prayers are greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Danny Nichols
President/CEO
Please click here to donate to Jake Stone and his family.
Colquitt EMC Lineman, Jake Stone of Nashville, was working to restore power to our members the night of Wednesday, June 14. Around 10:00 PM, his family's home was struck by lightening while Jake's wife, Megan, was home with their two boys. Thankfully, they made it out safely, but their home is a complete loss. Colquitt EMC is starting this fundraiser to help the Stone family get back on their feet after this tragic loss. Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers as they navigate this difficult situation.
We have had a few donors that are interested in donating clothing for the family. Please see below for their sizing information. If you wish to donate clothing, please drop it off at any Colquitt EMC office location. Thank you for your kindness!
Kason - 10 years
Medium Shorts
Youth Large Shirt
6 shoes
Kaleb - 8 years
Medium Shorts
Youth Medium Shirts
4 shoes
Megan - mom
Large Tops
Size 12 Bottoms
Scrubs - Large Top & Petite Bottom
8 shoes
Jake - dad
XL Shirt
XL Shorts
32x32 pants
10 shoes
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OUTAGE UPDATE 8:45 AM 6/15/23
My fellow members,
Colquitt EMC's personnel continues to work tirelessly to restore power to all 72,000+ meters. As of 8:50 AM, we have 4,393 meters without power.
We recognize that some have been without service since Tuesday evening. I ask that you understand that power restoration is a sequential process. We must have service at the substations. From there, we must restore power to the main lines and then restore service to the branch lines.
What complicates this process is the large scale damage that we have experienced since Tuesday evening. There are numerous broken poles and toppled trees on our lines. We are sensitive to those who have been without power since the beginning of this storm. I can assure you that we are doing everything in our power to restore service to all of our members.
Yesterday, in addition to our 10 in-house crews, we had 3 contract crews and 3 mutual aid crews. Today we have 8 contract crews and 6 mutual aid crews joining us in the restoration effort. In conjunction with these crews, we have numerous right-of-way crews (both in-house and contract) helping clear the right-of-way so the line crews can get to these affected areas and work. This ranks among the worst storm related event that we have ever faced. We are working tirelessly to restore service to all.
Please understand that while we have crews working around the clock to restore power, this work is being done in 18-hour shifts. This allows for each crew to get some rest for their safety and effectiveness.
Colquitt EMC has over 9,000 miles of power lines and over 72,000 meters. Given such a large system, we rely on automated computer systems to help us track necessary outage information. Sometimes these systems are not perfect. I recognize that, but it is the most effective way to gather this information.
As I look at the radar this morning I see additional storms are approaching. I humbly ask all members to join me in prayer for our members that are affected by this outage and our personnel working to restore power.
Sincerely,
Danny Nichols
President/CEO
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OUTAGE UPDATE 5:00 PM 6/14/23
My fellow members,
We are concerned as we look to the evening forecast. We continue to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Our in-house, contract and mutual aid crews continue to work on the damage that occurred yesterday and early this morning. They will continue to work as quickly and safely as possible to make sure power is restored to all members.
As our crews continue to work, we believe progress is being made. Sometimes the number we see on the outage map doesn't reflect the most up to date outage information. Please rest assured that we are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore and maintain your electric service.
Thank you again for your patience and support. We would also like to extend a thank you to S&S Construction, Irwin EMC, Mitchell EMC and Middle Georgia EMC for providing assistance during this restoration effort.
Sincerely,
Danny Nichols
President/CEO
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OUTAGE UPDATE 7:55 AM 6/14/23
My fellow Colquitt EMC Members,
Yesterday, we experienced a major front and storm that we have not seen in several years. At its peak, 17,000+ of our 72,000 meters were without power. We currently have approximately 6,500 meters without power.
All of our line crews, service personnel, and right-of-way (both in-house and contracted crews) worked from the beginning of the outage through the night and into this morning. We are continuing to work while attempting to give these crews some rest so they can continue to work safely.
We have asked for mutual aid from our fellow EMCs. Crews from Middle Georgia and Mitchell EMC are en route to help us restore power. We are looking for additional crews to help us with our restoration efforts, but several other EMCs were affected by the same storm.
The damage we experience exceeds some of the hurricane damage we have had in recent years. Crews replaced several poles last night and have several more to replace today. We use mapping software to help us pinpoint these power outages. We understand and are aware that there have been individual instances where the outage system has reported outages incorrectly.
Our service reliability is our #1 priority now and always. Rest assured that we will continue working until power is restored to all of our members. We thank you for your patience and support as we work to restore power to all.
Sincerely,
Danny Nichols
President/CEO