My fellow members,
Hurricane Helene has come through our system and is moving toward the mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley States. Last night and early morning, Helene made a north-northeast turn as opposed to the projected northerly path. This change resulted in more of a direct hit to Lowndes and Berrien Counties as opposed to affecting more of our westerly area such as Quitman and Moultrie. The strength of Helene was much greater than Idalia or Debby.
We have significant damage in all areas of our service territory. According to our outage system, approximately 66,000 meters of our 73,000 meters are without power. We have lost some transmission voltage in several of our counties. This is the first requirement for us to be able to restore service to our members.
We are assembling our line working personnel. A large percentage of employees are struggling just to find a clear path to come to work. Having clear roads is a problem in the early stages of this event. However, we are beginning to assess the damage and make a plan of action.
This is not a one-day or two-day outage event. Idalia was some 7-8 days. I believe this will easily exceed Idalia’s power outage duration. Rest assured we are calling upon all resources that are available to us that can assist us in restoring power. We are leaving no stone unturned in making the effort to restore service to all our members. We will give it maximum effort and we ask for your patience and prayers. We will keep you updated throughout the process.
Sincerely,
Danny Nichols
President/CEO