Most Georgia Power customers in the Augusta area have electricity after last week’s ice storm that left 126,000 in the region without power.
The region was one of the hardest hit by the storm. A 12-county area including Augusta accounted for about 80,000 of the 82,000 Georgia Power customers statewide that were still in the dark Friday.
As of late Sunday afternoon, power had been restored to 99 percent of Georgia Power customers in Augusta and neighboring Columbia County. Fewer than 1,000 remained without power.
Georgia Power officials expect power to be restored to all of their customers by Sunday evening. About 701,000 customers lost power in last week’s ice and snow storm.
Several hundred outages in the Augusta area involved breaks between the utility pole and customer’s home or business. Repairs to those connecting lines, Georgia Power CEO Paul Bowers said, are the responsibility of the customer. Georgia Power engineers have connected customers with a roster of certified electricians to quickly repair those damaged links and restore power once the repairs have been made, Bowers said.
Red Cross emergency shelters in Augusta and Columbia County closed Sunday afternoon. Volunteer groups in the region are helping residents clear brush and cut fallen trees.
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