Here are several questions co-op members and other citizens were asking about the extensive damage in the state.
Q: Which of South Carolina’s electric cooperatives were hardest hit by the storm?
A: The co-ops that are experiencing the most outages now are Aiken Electric, Berkeley Electric (Moncks Corner), Coastal Electric (Walterboro), Edisto Electric (Bamberg), Horry Electric (Conway), and Santee Electric (Kingstree).
Q: How serious is the damage?
A: The answer varies from co-op to co-op. Coastal, Edisto and Santee electric cooperatives had 80 percent or more of their systems without power. Approximately 50 percent of Aiken Electric’s service was out at one time.
Q: How does damage from this winter storm compare with that of other storms?
A: It’s hard to determine that right now, but Edisto Electric CEO David Felkel called damage at his cooperative “equal to Hurricane Hugo.”
Bob Paulling, CEO at Mid-Carolina Electric, went one step further. “An ice storm is worse than a hurricane. With a hurricane, the storm blows through, does its damage, and after it’s gone, you can get to work doing repairs. An ice storm is like a hurricane followed by a series of mini hurricanes. You restore power to an area, but then the ice comes back overnight and the same area goes down again.” (See “Power line repair example” below.)
Coastal Electric’s predicament supported Paulling’s statement. Coastal was working to replace 50 poles on its system, more than twice as many as were broken by the last hurricane to blow through the area.
Q: How long will it take to get power restored?
A: With so many variables, it is difficult to give an accurate answer. Out-of-state crews assisted the co-ops that need help the most. While some co-ops believed power could be restored in a day or so, others believed it could be as long as two weeks before all power is restored.
All co-ops in the upper part of the state and Palmetto Electric near Savannah anticipated total restoration by midday Friday. Co-ops in the Midlands, except Aiken Electric, expected restoration by the weekend or early the next week. Aiken Electric and Berkeley, Black River, Horry and Santee electric cooperatives expected to have total restoration by the middle of or late the next week. Coastal and Edisto electric cooperatives, whose systems were almost completely out of power, it could have taken a couple of weeks.
In the end, all co-ops met or did better than their restoration predictions.
Q: How do co-ops determine the order of priority in restoring power to homes, neighborhoods and businesses?
A: It may help to think of electric power like water flowing through a garden hose. If the hose is cut and leaking near the spigot or source, you have to fix the leak there before you address other leaks down the line. The same thing applies when restoring power. First, crews are working on the single sources of the most outages — transmission lines, which supply power to substations. Then, they will work their way to distribution lines and finally to individual homes where service has been knocked out. (Please see info graphic available for download here: https://ecscscliving.box.com/s/kpkdxulj874sk7u150zw.)
Q: What about consumers who have special needs?
A: Electric cooperatives are aware of members with special circumstances. They strive to restore power to those individuals as soon as possible, but they encourage these members to seek alternative means for power. Once power is restored to a special needs consumer, the co-op calls the consumer to verify that power is on.
Q: What can people do to help?
A: A couple of things:
Be patient when calling about power outages. Phones at the co-op may be out, but even if you are struggling to get through, most co-ops have systems that inform them when power is out in your area or at your home.
Understand when you see line crews doing their job, their work zone is a hazardous area. Stopping to talk with them may put you in danger, and at a minimum slows down the repair process for everyone. However, a wave or a “thumbs up” is always appreciated.
Q: What else would co-ops like South Carolinians to know?
A: We appreciate Governor Haley’s efforts to smooth the way for out-of-state crews to help restore power. Thanks in part to her efforts, there are 300 additional line workers already here or on their way to South Carolina from Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. We’re also grateful to Dukes Scott and the state Office of Regulatory Staff for helping us coordinate resources with other states.
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