EMCs See Significant Increase in Power Outages

TUCKER, Ga. – At 10 a.m., Georgia’s electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) are reporting approximately 400,000 customers without power, primarily in metro Atlanta, north and west Georgia, up from 45,000 earlier today. As Tropical Storm Zeta barreled through the state, outages climbed as the effects of the storm—namely tropical storm-force winds and heavy rain--battered Georgia.

At first light, EMC crews descended upon hardest hit areas to begin damage assessments and initial restoration work. This storm in particular, which has generated wind gusts in excess of 70 mph, caused widespread damage to trees, power lines and power poles. In some cases, trees must be cleared from roadways before line workers can access outages.

Unlike most storms in the last several years, Zeta has damaged high-voltage transmission lines and electrical substations that provide electricity to the local EMCs, which distribute it to customers through smaller lines. Georgia Transmission Corp. is working to bring these lines and substations back to full operation, and as that work progresses the restoration efforts to residential customers and businesses will move more quickly.

EMCs began preparations for Tropical Storm Zeta nearly a week ago and have participated in daily discussions with co-ops within Georgia and nearby states to arrange for extra crews, trucks and equipment. Help has arrived or is on the way from unaffected areas in Georgia as well as South Carolina and Tennessee. Extra help will be vital to the restoration effort which includes impassable roadways in many areas and additional resources to clear debris and trees before work can begin on downed lines.

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

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, a not-for-profit cooperative owned by 38 Electric Membership Corporations (EMCs), owns more than 3,400 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and more than 700 substations. These facilities deliver power to Georgia’s EMCs, which serve nearly 70 percent of the state’s population (4.1 million). For more information, visit gatrans.com.

Important Note to Media: Statewide EMC outage stats can be found at www.georgiaemc.com/outages. Information is updated every 15 minutes.

Another outage update will be provided later today.

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