EMCs Restore Power to More Than 133,600 Customers

TUCKER, Ga. – Georgia’s electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) have restored power to 133,600 customers as of 5 a.m. today. This number represents major progress from the high of 210,000, after Category 3 Hurricane Michael swept through Georgia on Wednesday.

Most of the 76,400 customers who are still without power are in the hardest-hit areas of Middle Georgia and Southwest Georgia, where recovery efforts are complicated by the relatively low density of customers per distribution line and the wide area over which the downed lines and damaged poles are spread. Line workers from less-affected parts of Georgia and Arkansas, Virginia, Tennessee and South Carolina are assisting local crews in efforts to restore power to these customers. 

Georgia Transmission Corp. reports that of the approximately 90 electrical substations serving EMC load that were knocked out by the hurricane, all but 18 are at full operation now. In addition, more than 40 high-voltage transmission lines have been repaired or replaced; in the immediate aftermath of the storm, as many as 50 of these critical lines were down. These supply-side operations must be functional in order for EMCs to have electricity to distribute to their customers, so the recovery efforts have been a two-part process. 

Note to media: Updated outage information can be found throughout the day on Georgia EMC’s web site at https://georgiaemc.com/page/outages. The next written update is scheduled for 3 p.m. today.

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, nearly half of Georgia’s population, across 73 percent of the state’s land area. To learn more, visit www.georgiaemc.com  and follow us on  Facebook  and  Twitter.

Georgia Transmission Corporation plans, builds and maintains more than 3,100 miles of high-voltage powerlines and 650 substations that deliver electric power to 38 electric membership corporations (EMCs) across the state. Georgia Transmission and our member EMCs are not-for-profit cooperatives that serve approximately 4.1 million people in nearly 70 percent of the state’s land area. See www.gatrans.com

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