At the time of this story, Georgia Power's estimation for restoring power to the remaining 4,608 customers in Statesboro and Bulloch County is Thursday, October 3, 2024.
Excelsior EMC outage maps do not include estimated restoration times (ERT), but company officials are projecting 7 to 10 days (total) for total restoration. EMC has 6,901 customers out in Bulloch at the time of this story.
Outage maps
Excelsior EMC are cautioning customers that power outages could extend 7-10 days (total).
Georgia Power estimated restoration times for Bulloch on their outage map extends to Thursday evening October 3, 2024.
Georgia power has determined that Hurricane Helene was the most destructive hurricane in its history, damaging infrastructure across the state.
Click here to view findenergy.com updated Bulloch outagemap.
Wednesday, October 2nd power company statements
EMC
Click here for EMC updates on their Facebook page.
"As day 6 of restoration after Hurricane Helene begins to wind down, we want to remind our members that this remains a major outage event. Some areas could still be without power for several more days. We’ve done our best to communicate our restoration process, and if you believe you may be among those without power longer, we urge you to consider making accommodations elsewhere if possible.
We understand your questions about the more populated areas, and the majority of remaining outages in those areas are isolated to single or a few individuals, which requires time to address and repair. Our priority is always safety—for both our members and our linemen. With over 500 crew members on the ground, we’re committed to taking every precaution to eliminate any risk of injury as we continue rebuilding our distribution system.
We are currently at 54% of our members restored. As we continue working to get everyone’s power back on, we understand many of you want more technical details. We’ll share as much as we can.
We have over 80 line crews deployed across our service territory, not including the heavy equipment operators clearing right-of-way.
As of this evening, we have 820 individual outages to address. Each of these represents a unique issue that needs resolving—some of which will take hours, others potentially a full day. The work isn't always as simple as removing a limb from a line and resetting a fuse, especially given the widespread damage.
To help you understand the process, here’s how our restoration approach works. We follow the industry-standard plan, starting from the substation and working outwards. The substation is the origin point for all circuits; if there is any damage between your home and the substation, such as a broken pole or downed line, your power cannot be restored until that problem is fixed.
It might seem chaotic, but our process is about maximizing efficiency. We first target the largest outages, focusing on those that will restore power to the most people with the least effort. For example, if we can restore 300 members with one repair, we will prioritize that over smaller, more isolated issues. This doesn’t mean we only focus on highly populated areas—it means we’re aiming to get the most members' lights on as quickly as possible.
As we move on to smaller outages that impact fewer members, it may feel like progress slows. For instance, it could take days to repair several broken poles that may only affect two members. Every member is important, and while it might seem like progress is slow for some, efficiency guides our work so we can restore power to everyone as quickly as possible.
We want to acknowledge the frustration that comes with seeing others' power restored while yours remains out. This hurricane has been one of the most damaging storms for both life and property in our nation’s history, and we are facing the worst natural disaster our area has seen in the modern era. Please know that Excelsior EMC is exhausting every resource, and securing more daily, to get the lights back on for every single one of our members.
We are committed to our community, and we will not rest until all our members are restored. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this challenging time."
Want to answer a few common questions we’ve been getting:
Q. Why don’t I see anyone working near me?
A. Electricity travels a long path to reach you—starting from the power plant, down transmission lines, to substations, through main distribution lines, and finally along tap lines. Every segment must be operational for power to reach your home. The damage affecting your home might be miles away. Rest assured, our crews are assessing and repairing what’s necessary to get your power back.
Q. Why does my neighbor have power, but I don’t?
A. Your home may be served by a different substation, transformer, or line than your neighbor’s. It could also be an issue with your service connection point, meter pole, or other localized equipment. We’re working as quickly as possible to restore all connections.
Q. Do I need to report my outage more than once?
A. Once you’ve reported your outage, there’s no need to call again. Repeated calls can prevent others from reporting new outages and create duplicate tickets for the same location.
Q. I have a medical need for electricity. Why isn’t my power restored immediately?
A. We recommend all members with medical needs have a backup plan in place. Before we can focus on individual priority accounts, we need to repair the backbone of our system. This includes substations, and main distribution lines. It’s like a tree: we have to repair the trunk before we can fix the branches.
GPC
No new update from GPC on 10/2/24 at the time this story was published. We will update once they provide an update to us.
Please visit our Outage Map for the latest update on our restoration process, including ERTs. We will continue to update the Outage Map, and our customers on social.
Thank a lineman
Now is the time to shower all of the linemen who are working tirelessly around the clock to restore our power with kindness and patience. Many of these dedicated workers have traveled long distances, leaving their families behind to help us.
If you have a sign in front of your business, please use these to thank the linemen. Any show of support for them will go a long way.
