Winter storm: 115K EMC customers in northeast Georgia without power

Georgia Electric Membership Corp. spokeswoman Terri Statham issued the following release:

As of 9:30 a.m., Georgia’s electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) are reporting approximately 115,000 customers in northeast Georgia without power, down from 134,000 earlier today. Crews have made significant progress and restored power to thousands of customers, only to have thousands go out in other areas as trees continued to fall on power lines and across roadways.

EMC crews from across the state, additional contract crews and other right-of-way crews are assisting with extensive repairs and tree removal which has plagued this portion of the state. In many cases, power crews have been forced to cut their way into areas in order to begin work on downed lines.

Major damage and substantial ice accumulation has occurred in Forsyth, Hall, Gwinnett, Dawson, Lumpkin, Cherokee, Pickens, Jackson, Banks, Rabun, Stephens and White counties. Most EMCs estimate that the majority of customers will be restored within 24 hours, while some outages will take longer due to the extent of damage and because some of the remaining outages are located in remote areas.

Georgia EMC is the statewide trade association representing the state’s 41 EMCs, Oglethorpe Power Corp., Georgia Transmission Corp. and Georgia System Operations Corp.  Collectively, Georgia’s customer-owned EMCs provide electricity and related services to 4.4 million people, half of Georgia’s population, across 73 percent of the state’s land area.

Additional coverage: Icing knocks out power to thousands, threatens Tuesday morning commute