Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. reposted this
Helene update - Thursday, Oct. 10: After 14 days, more than 99% of the South Carolina electric cooperative members who lost power have been restored. Co-op crews and helpers from 24 states have turned the lights back on for about 421,000 members, down from a high of 425,000 on the morning of Friday, Sept. 27. Almost all of the 4,000 meters that remain offline will have their power restored in the next few days. These outages are concentrated in hard-to-reach or heavily damaged pockets of the western corner of the state, including in Aiken, Edgefield, Laurens, McCormick and Pickens counties. Restoration progress will continue to feel slow as we near the finish line. That's primarily due to two factors: the severe damage these areas suffered from Hurricane Helene, and the low density of rural cooperative service territories. South Carolina's co-ops serve primarily rural stretches of the state. We serve 70% of the state's land mass but just 40% of its population. We have about 11 members per mile of electric line, compared to 34 meters per mile for a typical power company. That means the hours our crews spend rebuilding just one line ultimately benefit fewer people. That's why these last few thousand meters are taking longer to bring back online. Rest assured, our co-ops have all the crews they can handle, and it's only a matter of time before we are back to normal.