Updates on Power Restoration Following Hurricane Sally
September 17, 2020, 8:30 am – The EREC power system received significant damage from Hurricane Sally with 95% of members without electricity immediately following the storm. Crews are working around the clock restoring power as quickly and safely as possible.
Escambia County received significant damage to the transmission lines feeding the Bratt and Oak Grove substations. Our generation and transmission facility, PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, is hard at work getting those lines repaired to energize the substations. Once those repairs are complete, all the distribution work that has been done following the storm will result in the power being restored to some members on those substations immediately. Line crews will continue to work on main distribution and tap lines to continue bringing members online.
EREC will have approximately 100 additional line personnel in the field today working to assist power restoration to the system. Crews will continue to work, day and night, until all power has been restored.
September 16, 2020, 2:30 pm — As conditions begin to improve from Hurricane Sally, our line crews are able to do damage assessment on our power system and begin restoration. As of now, 95% of our members are without power. We have line crews arriving from Florida and Mississippi to assist our linemen with power restoration. There are specific steps we must take, as demonstrated in the graphic, to restore power to the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time. Crews will work around the clock to get everyone’s electricity back on as quickly and safely as possible.
September 16, 2020, 9:30 am — Hurricane Sally made landfall just west of the Florida/Alabama line early this morning as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 105 mph. Our area continues to be battered from strong winds and heavy rain as the storm is moving very slowly. Our line crews have been bought in for their safety until conditions improve. When it is safe to return to the field, our line personnel will begin damage assessment to begin the restoration process. We have additional cooperative line crews ready to arrive as soon as the storm’s high winds subside. We urge our members to stay in and stay safe from the dangerous weather we are experiencing.
