Power restoration continues: Here's the latest updates as we learn more

GREENVILLE, S.C. —

Here you will find the latest power outage updates in South Carolina after Helene:

**Live video above when available**

Blue Ridge Electric gives 10 p.m. Wednesday update:

Approximately 6,500 Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative members had their power restored Wednesday.

As of Wednesday night, over 46,000 members have had their power restored since Tropical Storm Helene ripped through our region. At the time of this release, 17,608 members were without power, representing approximately 24 percent of our membership.

Further field assessments today confirmed 710 broken poles. That figure was at 625 broken poles Tuesday night. The continued discovery of damage shows how crews make it further into a job only to find more damage, extending the restoration process. This continues to be the most we’ve ever recorded in our 84-year history.

On average, it takes a four-man crew about 3-4 hours to replace one broken pole. Many are being replaced now in areas inaccessible to machinery. This means the poles must be dug and placed by hand, just like they were in 1940 when the cooperative was formed. Some spans of line have as many as 10 broken poles on them. This will be a long process.

Below are the members restored today by county:

• Anderson: 1,475
• Greenville: 82
• Oconee: 3,082
• Pickens: 1,901

Below are the remaining members without power by county:

• Anderson: 1,674
• Greenville: 3,106
• Oconee: 5,561
• Pickens: 7,224
• Spartanburg: 43

Laurens Electric gives 8 p.m. Wednesday update

As of Wednesday at 8 p.m., 24,934 remain without power.

Service has been restored to 38,924 members, representing 61% of our member-base.

26 of 32 substations are back online.

According to new assessments, there are more than 300 broken power poles across our system. After cutting away trees, it takes a crew an average of 2 to 4 hours to remove and reset a new pole.

We have secured 8 additional crews, or 45 more personnel who are enroute to help.

As we’ve previously reported, transmission to some parts of Abbeville, Anderson, Laurens, Newberry, Union, and Spartanburg counties is estimated to be repaired by Oct 7. Until then, power is not flowing to our distribution lines that bring power to those neighborhoods, homes, and businesses.

Different transmission lines serve the areas listed in the estimate, and those lines will be brought back up at different times – some sooner than Oct. 7.

While transmission lines are being restored, our crews continue to work on other critical infrastructure. Even after transmission is restored, the extensive damage to our system means there is still significant work to do before power is fully restored to every member

Greenville County is not part of the transmission outages. Crews there are replacing broken power poles, restringing distribution lines, rebuilding circuits and making repairs. The co-op cannot provide an estimated time of restoration yet but will share that information as soon as it is available.

Laurens Electric crews are working in rotating shifts 24 hours a day in all parts of our service area.

The co-op has 225 crews representing more than 450 line technicians and right-of-way workers operating now.

They are staging in large parking lots throughout the area to help relieve congestion at our operations centers. Staging also allows these workers to be briefed with planning and safety information closer to the areas in which they will be working.

While driving, please make way for crews working on roadsides, and don’t approach lineworkers while they’re on the job; it presents a safety hazard for them and the public and disrupts restoration work.

Members who are dependent on medical equipment at home and are without power should contact the S.C. Department of Public Health at 1-855-472-3432 to find out if they are eligible for a medical needs shelter.

We remain grateful for our members’ understanding and patience as we respond to this emergency.

Laurens Electric gives 5 p.m. Wednesday update

As of Wednesday at 5 p.m., 25,534 members remain without power.

Service has been restored to 38,322 members, representing 61% of our member-base.

26 of 32 substations are back online.

According to new assessments, there are more than 300 broken power poles across our system.

As we’ve previously reported, transmission to some parts of Abbeville, Anderson, Laurens, Newberry, Union, and Spartanburg counties is estimated to be repaired by Oct 7. Until then, power is not flowing to our distribution lines that bring power to those neighborhoods, homes, and businesses.

Different transmission lines serve the areas listed in the estimate, and those lines will be brought back up at different times – some sooner than Oct. 7.

While transmission lines are being restored, our crews continue to work on other critical infrastructure. Even after transmission is restored, the extensive damage to our system means there is still significant work to do before power is fully restored to every member

Greenville County is not part of the transmission outages. Crews there are replacing broken power poles, restringing distribution lines, rebuilding circuits and making repairs. The co-op cannot provide an estimated time of restoration yet but will share that information as soon as it is available.

For the most up-to-date outage updates, we encourage members to follow us on social media (Facebook, X, and Instagram).

Laurens Electric crews are working in rotating shifts 24 hours a day in all parts of our service area.

The co-op has 225 crews representing more than 450 line technicians and right-of-way workers operating now.

They are staging in large parking lots throughout the area to help relieve congestion at our operations centers. Staging also allows these workers to be briefed with planning and safety information closer to the areas in which they will be working.

While driving, please make way for crews working on roadsides, and don’t approach line workers while they’re on the job; it presents a safety hazard for them and the public and disrupts restoration work.

Members who are dependent on medical equipment at home and are without power should contact the S.C. Department of Public Health at 1-855-472-3432 to find out if they are eligible for a medical needs shelter.

We remain grateful for our members’ understanding and patience as we respond to this emergency.

S.C. Electric Cooperatives update at 12:32 Wednesday

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.

Rutherford Electric Membership Corp. update at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday

Forest City, N.C. — Rutherford EMC has restored power to more than 35,000 members in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene which severely damaged – and in some cases destroyed –electric infrastructure in all nine counties the cooperative serves. Local Rutherford EMC crews, alongside reinforcements from peer electric cooperatives both in-state and out-of-state, have worked tirelessly in their restoration efforts. As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, approximately 27,000 outages remain across the cooperative’s service territory.

Crumbled, washed-out roads and landslides continue to pose unprecedented challenges for line crews in being able to access damage. Further, damage to the electric infrastructure is catastrophic, meaning crews are rebuilding in many areas.

“We are devastated by the conditions and for our members,” said Dirk Burleson, general manager of Rutherford EMC. “We understand how frustrating it is to be without power, and we thank each of our members for their patience during this unprecedented time.”

The severity of this damage, combined with limited access to some areas due to destroyed roadways means power may not be returned to these hardest hit areas for weeks. In many cases, crews are hiking miles to access damage to the system because of the road conditions.

“Please know that every cooperative member who is still without power is a priority for Rutherford EMC,” said Burleson. “Crews are going to extraordinary lengths to access damaged infrastructure and reach isolated areas. When they get to where they need to be, they’re not just met with a limb on a line – they’re met with infrastructure that has been washed away, trees that have pulled down spans of line and snapped poles that need to be rebuilt.”

While our crews are working to restore power, you can help by staying vigilant around work areas. Please avoid traveling on the roads unless absolutely necessary. Keeping the roads clear will help first responders do their jobs and give restoration crews better access to impacted areas. Additionally, many road shoulders are saturated or inaccessible, meaning crews will need to set up trucks and equipment on the roads in some locations. Help keep lineworkers safe.

Safety:

• Do not touch a circuit breaker or replace a fuse with wet hands or while standing on a wet surface.
• Do not use electrical equipment and electronics, including receptacles, that have been submerged in water.
• If it is necessary to use a portable generator, always operate the generator outdoors in an open area. Use an extension cord to connect the generator directly to the appliance and ensure the extension cord has three-prongs and is rated for the amount of power used by the appliance.
• Do not connect your portable generator directly to your home’s wiring. A generator that is directly connected can “backfeed” into the power lines connected to your house and could electrocute anyone working on the power lines.

Greer Public Works posted this update on Facebook Wednesday morning:

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Greer CPW power restoration update –October 2, 2024; 8:30 AM: We continue efforts to restore power to Greer CPW customers following Tropical Storm Helene. With less than 1,200 customers to restore, we continue to work in all parts of our service territory.

Additionally, we wanted to clarify a communication error regarding disconnections for non-pay. We will NOT be disconnecting services through the end of next week, and we are also waiving late fees and non-payment fees through the end of next week. Please note this is for your previous month’s bill. Please make sure payment is made by midnight Friday, October 11th to avoid a $75 non-payment fee and potential disconnection beginning at 8:00 AM on Monday, October 14th.

Laurens Electric update at 10 a.m. Wednesday:

As of Tuesday at 10 a.m., power has been restored to 36,128 members, representing 57% of our member-base.

26 of 32 substations are back online.

As we’ve previously reported, transmission to some parts of Abbeville, Anderson, Laurens, Newberry, Union, and Spartanburg counties is estimated to be repaired by Oct 7. Until then, power is not flowing to our distribution lines that bring power to those neighborhoods, homes, and businesses.

Different transmission lines serve the areas listed in the estimate, and those lines will be brought back up at different times – some sooner than Oct. 7.

While transmission lines are being restored, our crews continue to work on other critical infrastructure, including replacing broken power poles, restringing distribution lines, rebuilding circuits and making repairs. Even after transmission is restored, the extensive damage to our system means there is still significant work to do before power is fully restored to every member

As more progress is made, more specific information will be provided to members regarding restoration estimates.

We encourage members to follow us on social media (Facebook, X, and Instagram) for the latest updates.

Laurens Electric crews are working in rotating shifts 24 hours a day in all parts of our service area.

The co-op has 225 crews representing more than 450 line technicians and right-of-way workers operating now.

They are staging in large parking lots throughout the area to help relieve congestion at our operations centers. Staging also allows these workers to be briefed with planning and safety information closer to the areas in which they will be working.

While driving, please make way for crews working on roadsides, and don’t approach lineworkers while they’re on the job; it presents a safety hazard for them and the public and disrupts restoration work.

Members who are dependent on medical equipment at home and are without power should the S.C. Department of Public Health at 1-855-472-3432 to find out if they are eligible for a medical needs shelter.

We remain grateful for our members’ understanding and patience as we respond to this emergency.

Blue Ridge Electric update at 10 p.m. Tuesday

Approximately 4,900 Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative members had their power restored Tuesday.

As of tonight, over 40,000 members have had their power restored since Tropical Storm Helene ripped through our region. This leaves 24,151 members without power at the time of this release. That figure represents approximately 33 percent of our membership.

Further field assessments today confirmed 625 broken poles. The continued discovery of damage shows how crews make it further into a job only to find more wreckage, extending the restoration process. This continues to be the highest number of broken poles we’ve ever recorded in our 84-year history as a cooperative.

Please see the attached restoration overview for specific areas that improved today.

Below are the members restored today by county:

• Anderson: 1,454
• Greenville: 872
• Oconee: 781
• Pickens: 1,863

Below are the remaining members without power by county:

• Anderson: 3,149
• Greenville: 3,188
• Oconee: 8,643
• Pickens: 9,125
• Spartanburg: 43

Duke Energy update at 8:45 p.m. Tuesday:

Duke Energy’s round-the-clock power restoration efforts continue following the historic damage caused by Helene in the Carolinas. Line workers – with the support of tree trimmers, state department of transportation workers and countless others – continue to restore power to hundreds of thousands of customers each day.

“We’ve never seen such widespread devastation and destruction as we’re seeing in this region,” said Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy storm director for the Carolinas. “We appreciate our local and state government partners continued help in getting us access to the hard-hit areas so we can make repairs where possible.

“A large amount of our work entails a significant repair or complete rebuild of the electricity infrastructure that powers this region and will support its recovery.”

Here’s an update as of 8:45 p.m.:

Duke Energy restored more than 600,000 customer outages; 326,000 customers in the upstate remain without power.

• Duke Energy restored 1 million customer outages; 175,000 customers in the mountain region remain without power.

• Overall, Duke Energy restored nearly 1.6 million customer outages in the Carolinas following Helene.

• Duke Energy expects to restore the majority of the remaining customer outages by Friday night.

• Power restoration may take longer in areas that continue to be inaccessible, dependent on infrastructure that has been destroyed or are unable to receive service.

Links and resources:

Laurens Electric update at 8 p.m. Tuesday:

As of Tuesday at 8 p.m., power has been restored to 35,743 members, representing 56% of our member-base.

22 of 32 substations are back online.

The number of broken power poles has now been assessed at over 300. It takes a crew 2-4 hours to remove and reset a new pole.

As we’ve previously reported, transmission lines to some parts of Abbeville, Anderson, Laurens, Newberry, Union, and Spartanburg Counties may not come online until Oct 7. Different transmission lines serve these areas, and those lines will be brought back up at different times – some sooner than that date. Oct. 7 is the outside estimate.

After transmission is restored, crews will have to operate outward from substations, replacing broken power poles, restringing our distribution lines, rebuilding circuits, and making repairs. This work has been ongoing since the storm hit, but so much infrastructure was damaged that there will still be work to do before power is restored.

At this point in the recovery and rebuilding process, we are still unable to provide more specific estimates as to when crews will be in certain areas removing downed lines and making repairs.

As more progress is made, more specific information will be provided.

The co-op has 200 crews representing more than 400 line technicians and right-of-way personnel working in rotating shifts 24 hours a day in all parts of our service area. More crews are coming from others states.

While driving, please make way for crews working on roadsides, and don’t approach lineworkers while they’re on the job; it presents a safety hazard for them and the public and disrupts restoration work.

Members who are dependent on medical equipment at home and are without power should the S.C. Department of Public Health at 1-855-472-3432 to find out if they are eligible for a medical needs shelter.

We remain grateful for our members’ understanding and patience as we respond to this emergency.

Laurens Electric update at 5 p.m. Tuesday:

As of Tuesday at 5 P.m., power has been restored to 32,501 members, representing 51% of our member-base.

20 of 32 substations are back online.

Reports we’ve received estimate transmission to some parts of Abbeville, Anderson, Laurens, Newberry, Union, and Spartanburg counties may be restored by Oct 7. Until then, power is not flowing to our distribution lines that bring power to those neighborhoods, homes, and businesses.

Once transmission is restored, we can determine what further repairs need to be made that crews have not already completed.

As more progress is made, more specific information will be provided.

The co-op is focused on rebuilding much of our infrastructure while transmission is reestablished.

Laurens Electric crews are working in rotating shifts 24 hours a day in all parts of our service area.

The co-op has 200 crews representing more than 400 line technicians and right-of-way workers operating now.

They are staging in large parking lots throughout the area to help relieve congestion at our operations centers. Staging also allows these workers to be briefed with planning and safety information closer to the areas in which they will be working.

While driving, please make way for crews working on roadsides, and don’t approach lineworkers while they’re on the job; it presents a safety hazard for them and the public and disrupts restoration work.

Members who are dependent on medical equipment at home and are without power should the S.C. Department of Public Health at 1-855-472-3432 to find out if they are eligible for a medical needs shelter.

We remain grateful for our members’ understanding and patience as we respond to this emergency.

NC Electric Cooperatives update at 3:20 p.m. Tuesday:

Power has been restored to nearly 30,700 Rutherford EMC members as the cooperative continues its all-out effort to reconnect and rebuild severely damaged or destroyed infrastructure in all nine counties it serves following Tropical Storm Helene. Cooperative crews are facing numerous challenges, including flooding and landslides that have swept away roads and power line infrastructure, with unwavering commitment and resolve to restore power to each and every impacted member.

“We understand how frustrating it is to be without power, and we thank each of our members for their patience during this unprecedented time,” said Dirk Burleson, general manager of Rutherford EMC. Burleson. “Their support means so much to each of our crews out in the field, who are facing unique challenges with each restoration effort.”

Local Rutherford EMC crews, alongside reinforcements from peer electric cooperatives both in-state and out-of-state, have worked around the clock to repair, and, in some cases, completely rebuild electric infrastructure as 32,000 outages remain.

“Please know that every cooperative member who is still without power is a priority for Rutherford EMC,” said Burleson. “Crews are going to extraordinary lengths to access damaged infrastructure and reach isolated areas. When they get to where they need to be, they’re not just met with a limb on a line – they’re met with infrastructure that has been washed away, trees that have pulled down spans of line and snapped poles that need to be rebuilt.”

These obstacles are impeding restoration efforts, with full restoration expected to take a week or more in the hardest-hit areas. Crews remain committed to restoring power to every member following this catastrophic event.

While our crews are working to restore power, you can help by staying vigilant around work areas. Please avoid traveling on the roads unless absolutely necessary. Keeping the roads clear will help first responders do their jobs and give restoration crews better access to impacted areas. Additionally, many road shoulders are saturated or inaccessible, meaning crews will need to set up trucks and equipment on the roads in some locations. Help keep lineworkers safe.

Blue Ridge Electric update at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday:

All Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative substations are now online and energized.

On Friday, 13 substations were offline due to Tropical Storm Helene’s damage to Duke Energy’s transmission lines. The Cross Roads community in Pickens County was the final substation to be restored today. More than 2,000 members have already had their power restored this morning.

SC Electric Cooperatives update at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday

South Carolina’s electric cooperatives have now restored power to more than 280,000 consumers statewide, making significant progress in the days since Hurricane Helene knocked out the lights for about 425,000 consumers Friday morning.

More than 1,000 cooperative line workers are hustling around the clock to restore power, including hundreds from out of state and from the half-dozen S.C. co-ops that have already completed their restoration efforts.

As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, approximately 144,000 co-op members remained without power. Most of those outages were concentrated in the hard-hit Upstate and along the Palmetto State’s western border, where Helene has proven to be the most destructive storm in decades.

The powerful hurricane snapped more than 2,000 cooperative power poles and toppled dozens of transmission lines across the state, requiring some parts of the power grid 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.

“The damage we’re seeing from Helene is beyond anything I’ve witnessed in my 19 years working for South Carolina’s co-ops,” said Mike Couick, CEO of the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina. “Our co-ops are responding on a massive scale, but this process is going to take time, and it is going to require a lot of patience.”

A few key points on the ongoing restoration effort:

• All hands on deck: 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. Additional crews are helping from Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, New York, Tennessee and Virginia.

• Infrastructure challenges: About 14 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.

• 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.

Laurens Electric update at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday:

As of Tuesday at 10 a.m., power has been restored to 31,608 members, representing 50% of our member-base.

20 of 32 substations are back online.

According to the latest reports, transmission to some parts of Abbeville, Anderson, Laurens, Newberry, Union, and Spartanburg counties is estimated to come online by Oct 7. Until then, power is not flowing to our distribution lines that bring power to those neighborhoods, homes, and businesses.

Once transmission is restored, we can determine what further repairs need to be made that crews have not already completed.

The co-op is focused on rebuilding much of our infrastructure while transmission is reestablished.

As more progress is made, more specific information will be provided.

Laurens Electric crews are working in rotating shifts 24 hours a day in all parts of our service area.

The co-op has 200 crews representing more than 400 line technicians and right-of-way workers operating now, and 90 more mutual aid personnel are on the way from Pennsylvania and Maryland.

They are staging in large parking lots throughout the area to help relieve congestion at our operations centers. Staging also allows these workers to be briefed with planning and safety information closer to the areas in which they will be working.

While driving, please make way for crews working on roadsides, and don’t approach lineworkers while they’re on the job; it presents a safety hazard for them and the public and disrupts restoration work.

Members who are dependent on medical equipment at home and are without power should the S.C. Department of Public Health at 1-855-472-3432 to find out if they are eligible for a medical needs shelter.

We remain grateful for our members’ understanding and patience as we respond to this emergency.