Hurricane Idalia: Tracking the Electric Co

Updated: Aug. 31, 9:45 a.m. ET

A day after Idalia roared through the Southeast, electric cooperatives in the path of the storm are working to restore more than 157,000 outages amid substantial damage from the Category 3 hurricane.

Idalia made landfall 22 miles west of Perry, Florida, on Wednesday morning, and as winds subsided, damage assessments in several co-op territories began. Co-op outages topped 240,000 in Georgia and Florida in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

Nearly 95,000 co-op members remained without power in Florida on Thursday morning, with Madison-based Tri-County Electric Cooperative and Live Oak-based Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative facing the most extensive restoration process.

“One hundred percent of the Tri-County Electric Cooperative system has been impacted by Hurricane Idalia, leaving 20,000 meters without power,” said Kaitlynn Culpepper, the co-op’s community relations director. “We started with areas in need of transmission service, substation, and large 3-phase repair. These repairs will restore large amounts of meters at a time and have a great impact on complete restoration efforts.”

Many of the most challenging jobs will take longer, requiring special equipment and tracked heavy-duty vehicles for work in off-road rights of way drenched by heavy rains and inundated by flooding.

“Long tap and infrastructure damage impacting small groups of people will likely be out longer as larger system outages must be restored first,” Culpepper said. “We are working to have the majority of power restored to our members’ homes and businesses within two weeks, for those who can safely accept electricity.”

Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative also saw nearly all of its 28,000 meters knocked out by withering winds and rising water.

“The damage done to our lines, poles and transformers is extensive,” said SVEC CEO Mike McWaters. The co-op has 108 lineworkers and tree removal crew members currently working on repairs, and an additional 100 line technicians from within the state and Alabama will arrive Thursday. Another 72 workers have been requested to help clear tree debris.

“Even though we have fantastic employees and have arranged for a lot of help … it’s going to take a while to get everyone’s power back on,” McWaters said. Co-op officials added that complete restoration could take two weeks.

As Idalia moved through Georgia on Wednesday, more than 130,000 co-op members were without power. By Thursday morning, Georgia Electric Membership Corp. said outages are down to 62,000.

“We currently have mutual aid assistance at the seven EMCs in South Georgia who experienced [the most extensive] damage,” said Harry Reeves, Georgia EMC vice president for training and safety.

The statewide association is coordinating mutual aid and damage assessments of those systems began overnight, says Reeves. More than 150 workers from Georgia and Tennessee are already assisting those co-ops, and Reeves expects that number to nearly double as co-ops in the state add their personnel to restoration efforts.

“Crews in western areas of south Georgia have restored service to most members who can safely receive power,” said Walter Jones, the statewide association’s media relations manager.

Nahunta-based Okefenoke Rural Electric Membership Corp. is getting assistance from more than 140 mutual aid personnel as crews work to restore service to about 10,000 of its meters. Crews from Satilla Rural Electric Membership Corp., headquartered in Alma, have cut their outage numbers from nearly 20,000 meters to about 11,000, and officials say they need to complete work at 439 jobsites before power is totally restored.

“We assure you that we will not stop working until every member has power,” the co-op wrote in a message to members on its website.

In South Carolina, two co-ops serving members in the state’s Lowcountry are facing the biggest restoration jobs. Kingstree-based Santee Electric Cooperative has crews working to repair damage impacting 3,490 of its meters, and Edisto Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Bamberg, has more than 1,863 members out of service.

In North Carolina, more than 5,600 co-op-served meters were out of service Thursday morning. Newport-based Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative is working to get more than 2,500 members back online, and Burgaw-based Four County Electric Membership Corp. reported 2,000 outages.

Derrill Holly is a staff writer for NRECA.