A Message from our President/CEO
Saturday, September 28, 1:30 PM
Without a doubt, riding out Hurricane Helene is one of the most frightening things I have experienced in my lifetime. Making landfall at 140 miles per hour, Helene moved across Georgia leaving a huge path of destruction in her wake. Yesterday morning, when the sun finally began to reveal the extent of the damage, I was quite shocked.
As we began to assess the status of Satilla’s electric system, it didn’t take long to realize that it has been devastated. At one point, there were nearly 100% of Satilla’s accounts without power. Without exception, this is the most significant storm that I have been associated with over my 39-year career with Satilla.
Nevertheless, now that Helene has moved on, it is time to go to work. Prior to the arrival of Helene, Satilla made arrangements to have additional man-power available to assist with power restoration. With the realization that the resulting damage has greatly exceeded our expectation, we have made another large addition to the work force. With crews currently in the field and those arriving today and tomorrow, we anticipate our workforce to be approximately 700 strong. In order to accommodate such a sizable work force we have requested the help of Storm Services to provide lodging, catering, and other essential services.
As I am sure you know, cell phone and internet services have been impacted by the damage caused by Helene. This condition significantly impacts our ability to communicate with crews and negatively affects the efficiency of the restoration effort. Hopefully this will improve soon as repairs to the system are made.
In addition, the Transmission system of Georgia has suffered significant damage as well, there are only 7 of Satilla’s 29 Substations that are energized. Georgia Transmission Corporation is diligently working to make the necessary repairs to get the Transmission System fully operational.
Without a doubt, it is going to take a lot of work to get power restored to all of Satilla’s Members. Our restoration effort will take many days, maybe even weeks to complete. I thank you in advance for your understanding and your patience during this time. I also ask that you pray for the safety of those who will be working in these dangerous conditions. Please know that we will be working to the best of our ability to get power restored as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Romeo A. Reyes
President/CEO