WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As of
7:00 p.m. EDT, approximately 3.6
million customers are without power in Florida, Georgia, North
Carolina, and South
Carolina as a result of Hurricane Irma. At Irma's peak on
September 11, there were more than
7.8 million outages.
"Progress continues to be made to restore power to those who
were impacted by Irma," said EEI President Tom Kuhn. "Just two days after the storm passed,
more than 50 percent of customer outages have been restored. We
know this is no consolation to those who are still without power,
but customers should know that an army of almost 60,000 is working
around the clock and remains dedicated to the Irma response and
recovery effort."
The electric power industry's Irma response is one of the
largest power restoration efforts in U.S. history.
Responding to major events like Irma requires significant
coordination among the public and private sectors, and strong
industry-government coordination is critical. As we did throughout
Hurricane Harvey, EEI and the electric power industry are working
through the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) to
coordinate with the federal government, other segments of the
industry, and critical infrastructure operators.
Earlier today, the ESCC leadership held a call with Secretary of
Energy Rick Perry, Department of
Homeland Security Acting Secretary Elaine
Duke, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
President Lonnie Stephenson, as well
as senior executives from EEI's member companies and from across
the industry, to discuss ongoing coordination and restoration
efforts.
"We thank Secretaries Perry and Duke for their participation in
these calls and for their ongoing support and leadership," said
Kuhn. "We also appreciate that Secretaries Perry and Duke recognize
the heroic efforts of the workers who are helping to restore power
throughout the Southeast. IBEW President Stephenson reinforced that
the crews dedicated to the restoration are proud to be part of the
team and to be supporting the Irma response."
Ensuring the safety of customers, communities, and workers is
the electric power industry's highest priority. As always,
customers should stay away from downed power lines and always treat
fallen wires and anything touching them as though they are
energized. Customers using generators should plug appliances
directly into the generator and follow all safety warnings.
"We know that being without electricity creates hardships, and
we are grateful for our customers' patience as electric companies
work day and night to restore power," said Kuhn. "Companies will
continue their storm restoration efforts around the clock until the
last customer who can receive power is restored."
EEI's Storm Center is a resource for real-time information and
explanations of the restoration process. It also includes a map to
company outage centers. Customers can follow EEI on
Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.
It is important to remember that outages measure customer meters
impacted, not the number of individuals without power. As Irma
unfolded, some customers experienced more than one outage.
Customers in Alabama also
experienced limited Irma-related impacts; no significant outages
remain.
EEI is the association that represents all
U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Our members provide
electricity for 220 million Americans, and operate in all 50 states
and the District of Columbia. As a
whole, the electric power industry supports more than 7 million
jobs in communities across the United
States. In addition to our U.S. members, EEI has more than
60 international electric companies, with operations in more than
90 countries, as International Members, and hundreds of industry
suppliers and related organizations as Associate Members.
Organized in 1933, EEI provides public policy leadership,
strategic business intelligence, and essential conferences and
forums.
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SOURCE Edison Electric Institute