S.C. electric cooperatives restore power to 75% of statewide system

COLUMBIA – South Carolina’s electric cooperatives have now restored power to more than 320,000 consumers statewide, turning the lights back on for more than 75% of the co-op members who lost power when Hurricane Helene churned through the state Friday morning.
Less than 105,000 cooperative meters remained offline as of noon on Wednesday, Oct. 2, down from a peak of 425,000 Friday morning. That means less than 12% of the statewide cooperative system remains without power, down from a peak of 47%.
Most of those remaining outages are concentrated in the hard-hit Upstate and along the Palmetto State’s western border, where Helene’s heavy rains and high winds brought devastation not seen in decades.
Cooperative crews and contractors continue to make great progress in what amounts to one of the largest storm restoration efforts in South Carolina history.
More than 2,400 line workers are laboring around the clock to restore power to co-op consumers. They include mutual aid crews from a half-dozen S.C. co-ops as well as out-of-state line workers from at least 18 states.
The job ahead of them is immense. More than 2,800 snapped co-op power poles – and counting – will need to be replaced, and it can take up to four hours for a four-man crew to replace a single pole.
Parts of the co-op system remain inaccessible due to downed trees and debris. Much of the Palmetto State’s power grid will need to be rebuilt rather than repaired.
Cooperatives are asking that their consumers continue to prepare for extended outages. While many outages will be restored in the coming days, it could take a week or more for parts of the cooperative system to come back online.
“Cooperative line workers are working night and day to get the lights back on,” said Mike Couick, CEO of the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina. “We’ve been touched to see the outpouring of support for our linemen, from members delivering cookies and meals to co-op offices to school children sending in letters of support. We ask for your continued patience and understanding in the coming days.”
A few key points on the ongoing restoration effort:
• Co-ops helping co-ops: Every S.C. cooperative has line crews working to restore power to South Carolinians. Crews from co-ops that are back online are now working to restore power for their fellow co-ops in the Upstate. They include: Berkeley Electric, Black River Electric, Fairfield Electric, Horry Electric, Lynches River Electric, Santee Electric and Tri-County Electric.
• The cavalry is here: Additional crews are helping from at least 18 states: Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, South Dakota, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
• Infrastructure challenges: About 11 Upstate substations remain offline, down from more than 80 statewide on Friday morning. Cooperatives are working closely with their transmission providers to re-energize those substations and their downstream distribution lines. Co-ops are also working simultaneously to rebuild their distribution systems to be ready when the transmission outages are restored.
• Truckloads of equipment: The cooperatives’ materials supplier, CEEUS, is delivering 30 tractor trailer truckloads of equipment and supplies to cooperative crews across the state every day – a volume of materials that rivals the response to Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
The cooperatives are urging the public to exercise caution and patience:
• Stay away from downed power lines.
• Use extreme care with portable generators, keeping them outdoors and at least 20 feet from doors, windows and vent openings.
• Slow down and be mindful of roadside line crews working to restore power.
• Be on guard against scams. If you receive a suspicious call from someone claiming to be a co-op representative, hang up immediately and call your co-op.
For the latest updates on power restoration efforts, please visit ecsc.org or follow us @SCcooperatives.

The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, Inc. is the state association of independent, member-owned electric cooperatives. Nearly 2 million South Carolinians in all 46 counties use power provided by 18 electric cooperatives to 800,000 accounts. Together, electric cooperatives operate the state’s largest electric power system with 75,000 miles of power line. Find more information at www.ecsc.org.