Power Restoration Update

Following tireless efforts by Powell Valley Electric Cooperative’s line crews, support staff, management, Board members, mutual-aid crews and contractors, all power was restored on Thursday, October 3.

Hurricane Helene brought high winds and heavy rainfall, causing extensive damage throughout our service area. “We at Powell Valley Electric Cooperative deeply appreciate the tremendous work our employees, mutual-aid crews and contractors, have done over a seven-day period in response to Hurricane Helene,” said Brad Coppock, General Manager of PVEC. “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I extend our heartfelt thanks to the community for their prayers, patience, understanding, and support during this challenging time.”

In response to the catastrophe, we received mutual aid from 12 different cooperatives and contractors, bringing in over 180 additional line workers and tree trimmers to work alongside our PVEC crews.

We are immensely grateful for the community’s support, including prayers, donated food, and patience. We also want to thank all our employees who worked together with a single goal: to restore power to our members. This experience has demonstrated the strength of our cooperative spirit, and we could not have made this progress without the dedication of these teams and the support of our community. PVEC values the strong relationships we have with our members and the broader community.

PVEC estimates there were 341 outages at the peak of the storm, with over 735 separate outages occurring at various times. The damage included 95 broken poles, numerous transformer replacements, and extensive line repairs. Approximately 11,000 of our 35,000 members were affected by power outages.