Georgia Power: 99% of customers have power again after Irma impact

ATLANTA — Georgia Power has restored power to 99 percent of customers, or 990,000 customers, impacted by Hurricane Irma.

More than 8,000 personnel were mobilized as part of the restoration effort, including all of Georgia Power’s resources, as well as assistance from other Southern Company operating companies and dozens of other companies and assisting utilities, Georgia Power said.

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“The destruction from Hurricane Irma was unprecedented across Georgia, and throughout the Southeast, and I’m extremely proud of and thankful for the work and dedication of our teams to restore service to nearly all impacted customers ahead of schedule,” said Paul Bowers, chairman, president and CEO of Georgia Power. “Our job is not finished until every customer is reconnected and we want to thank the millions of customers who depend on us for electric service every day for their patience during restoration. I also want to personally thank our sister operating companies, as well as all utility, public safety and governmental partners who worked together over the past weeks to prepare for and recover from Hurricane Irma.”

Georgia Power estimates that damage from Hurricane Irma could include:

Nearly 1,500 broken or damaged power poles

More than 6,000 spans of wire (or nearly 230 miles)

Nearly 2,400 fallen trees

Approximately 450 transformers damaged

Georgia Power customers who remain without power should continue to check the company’s Outage Map at outagemap.georgiapower.com for the latest estimated restoration times (ERTs).

Unlike any storm in recent memory, Irma caused damage to all 41 EMCs in every region of the state.

Cox Media Group