GA EMC crews help fix Sandy's damage - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

with information from the Electric Membership Corporation

When the lights come back on in much of the northeastern United State come back on, South Georgians deserve a large measure of the credit. Many skilled linemen are in the region hit hard by Tropical Storm Sandy-- to fix what she broke.

Approximately 130 employees from 16 EMCs in Georgia began leaving Saturday and Sunday, while others will be heading out Monday and Tuesday for the coasts of Maryland and Virginia.

Tony Tucker, President and CEO at Mitchell EMC, says that seven employees from Mitchell EMC left Sunday for Maryland. 

Crew members include supervisor Brian Baggett, David Norton and Tony Amrowski from the Sylvester district,  Brent Humphries and Tye Piercey from Albany district, and Chris Sharp and Jason Johnson from the Camilla office. 

They took a pickup truck, two material handler bucket trucks, and one digger derrick.

"Our crews are helping Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative and are working  near St. Charles, Maryland," said Evera S. Moye, VP of Marketing & Member Services for Mitchell EMC.

"Although it has been raining and  is very cold, fortunately they are in an area that has not had ice,  and they are hoping the temperatures will not continue to drop.  The rain has slacked up this afternoon.   Fortunately, this area was a little south of the major brunt of the storm,  and  our crews may be moving northward to areas that had more devastation.  This coop has 150,000 customers and less than 10,000 without power.  But, they were glad to see all the help from Georgia arrive."    

"Going up before Sandy makes landfall gives our crews the opportunity to work closely with the local electric cooperative to review road maps, scope critical locations and familiarize themselves with the electric distribution systems in these areas," says Georgia EMC Training, Safety and Education Vice President Jim Wright.

"When the storm moves through, everyone will be in position and can immediately begin restoration work."   

Since the Storm is expected to produce destructive winds and heavy rainfall, Wright anticipates the work for Georgia EMC linemen will likely involve clearing trees from roadways and power lines, replacing broken poles, stringing new wire and repairing individual service.

Georgia line crews are expected to stay approximately one to two weeks but will remain in the region for as long as necessary.

Electric cooperative crews in Georgia are some of the most skilled and knowledgeable in the industry and have extensive experience working in storm conditions in South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Virginia and Florida.

Participating EMC's are: Altamaha EMC in Lyons, Carroll EMC in Carrollton, Central Georgia EMC in Jackson, Diverse Power in Lagrange, Flint Energies in Reynolds, Hart EMC in Hartwell, Irwin EMC in Ocilla, Jackson EMC in Jefferson, Jefferson Energy in Wrens, Middle Georgia EMC in Vienna, Mitchell EMC in Camilla, Snapping Shoals EMC in Covington, Southern Rivers in Barnesville, Tri-County EMC in Gray, Walton EMC in Monroe and Washington EMC in Sandersville. 

Wright says EMCs may send additional workers and equipment after the Storm moves through and the local electric cooperatives survey the distribution system and complete their damage assessments.

The crews, trucks and equipment are being coordinated by Georgia EMC, the statewide association, which works from an emergency plan that coordinates crews during emergencies such as ice storms, tornadoes and hurricanes.

Georgia EMC is the statewide trade association representing the state's 42 EMCs, Oglethorpe Power Corp., Georgia Transmission Corp. and Georgia System Operations Corp.  Collectively, Georgia's customer-owned EMCs provide electricity and related services to more than four million people, half of Georgia's population, across 73 percent of the state's land area.

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