South Carolina electric co-op: Power restored to over 85% of members

BEAUFORT, S.C. (WSAV) – More than 85% of the 425,000 members of the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina who lost power due to Hurricane Helene were back online Friday morning.

This includes Palmetto Electric Cooperative, Inc. which serves Beaufort, Hampton and Jasper counties.

The cooperatives have more than 3,200 linemen working around the clock to turn the lights back on after the storm.

That workforce includes crews from at least 23 states, plus mutual aid from eight fellow state cooperatives that have finished their restoration efforts.

“My heart goes out to the South Carolinians who have lost their loved ones, friends, homes and belongings due to this horrific storm,” said Mike Couick, CEO of the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina. “Our folks are doing everything they can to help by restoring power as quickly as possible to the communities that remain out. Our work won’t stop until the very last light is back on.”

Most of the remaining outages are located in the Upstate and along South Carolina’s western border where parts of the co-op system remain inaccessible due to downed trees and debris.

Meanwhile, large stretches of the system must be rebuilt.

Officials said 3,300 co-op power poles and counting will need to be replaced. It can take up to four hours for a four-man crew to replace a single pole, they noted.

According to the co-op, while most outages will be restored in the next few days, remote, hard-hit areas could be without power for more than a week.