We wanted to take a moment between work updates to let you know how much we appreciate your patience and compassion for our staff as we work to restore power to each and every REC member.
We hear you—we know this is beyond frustrating. We know that you have been patient and have been waiting a long time for service to be restored. We have not forgotten about you. We are utilizing every possible resource to restore your power as quickly and safely as possible. This is long, arduous work, but we will not stop until every last light is on.
It has taken nearly 90 years to build REC’s electric grid since the lines first went up in the 1930s. Winter Storm Frida damaged almost 60% of the grid in just a matter of hours. More than 1,000 crew members are currently in the field working hard to rebuild the grid from scratch.
We have seen your comments asking about the severity of the damage from what appeared to be just a few inches of snow. For utilities, winter storms are often far more devastating than even tropical storms or hurricanes. With a tropical storm or hurricane, when the storm leaves, the danger leaves, and the significant damage has been done. With snow and ice in winter storms, even after the storm clears, the damage continues to increase. As temperatures drop, ice accumulates on poles and wires, causing them to snap. Snow that clings to soft pine trees so common in this region causes limbs to sag or break and fall onto lines. As temperatures warm, and the ice melts, the ground becomes wet and soft and difficult to traverse with traditional equipment. Also, entire trees will be uprooted when the ground is wet and cannot hold the roots in place. It takes 6 hours to set a new utility pole on a good weather day. In winter storm conditions, it can take much longer.
We cannot thank you enough for your patience and support throughout this restoration effort. Please know that we are doing everything we can to get power restored as quickly and as safely as possible.
