Power restored to 2 million after Hurricane Irma, 5.5 million still without
As of 5 p.m. EDT on Sept. 12, crews had restored power to more than 2 million customers in Florida as well as parts of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina who had experienced outages as a result of Hurricane Irma.
Approximately 5.5 million customers were still without power after the storm, which peaked on Sept. 11.
“The industry’s Irma response is one of the largest and most complex power restoration efforts in U.S. history,” Edison Electric Institute (EEI) President Tom Kuhn said.
Kuhn noted that nearly 60,000 utility workers from across the United States and Canada were currently involved in restoration efforts, including 10,000 new workers who arrived on Sept. 12. Crews will need to rebuild some infrastructure in Florida before hey can restore power to all customers.
EEI and the electric power industry is coordinating with the federal government, other sectors of the industry and critical infrastructure operators through the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC).
EEI warned customers to stay away from downed power lines and, if using a generator, to plus appliances directly into it. The organization encouraged customers to visit its storm center on its website and its Twitter and Facebook pages for updates on restoration efforts.
“We know that being without electricity creates hardships, and we are grateful for our customers’ patience as electric companies work day and night to assess damage and to restore power where and when conditions are safe to do so,” Kuhn said. “Companies will continue their storm restoration efforts around the clock until the last customer who can receive power is restored.”
