***POWER RESTORED TO 11,000 MEMBERS IN LAST 24 HOURS, MORE RELIEF COMING***

Power has been restored to over 11,000 members in the last 24 hours as the multi-day restoration and rebuild efforts continue at Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative.
Crews will continue to work into the evening and overnight to restore services. To contextualize some of the damage we have assessed in the last 36 hours, we have provided an update on the confirmed number of broken poles in our system.
On average, it takes a four-man crew about 3-4 hours to replace one broken pole. We have found 289 broken poles from Tropical Storm Helene, and our engineers estimate this number will grow significantly.
For additional context, Blue Ridge replaced 180 new poles for Hurricane Irma in 2017 and 240 new poles in 2020 when an EF3 tornado ripped through Seneca.
Replacing three poles over a 12-hour shift is a full day’s work for a single crew. Replacing four is a feat in these circumstances. These are not simple repairs.
Currently, we have 10 substations without transmission service from Duke Energy.
OUTAGE STATUS
As of 5:30 p.m., an estimated 69 percent of our members (approximately 50,096 in total) remain without service. Approximately 61,600 members were without power at this time yesterday.
This is down from a peak of 90 percent of members not having power. More service will be restored throughout tonight and tomorrow.
Below are specific outage numbers by county:
Anderson: 7,182
Greenville: 5,538
Oconee: 16,892
Pickens: 20,748
Spartanburg: 43