Georgia Power restores power to over 520,000 customers after Hurricane Helene

The company publishes estimated recovery times for additional communities across the state following the most devastating hurricane in its history

ATLANTA, September 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — By Saturday evening, Georgia Power had restored power to more than 520,000 customers following the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene. This rapid response was made possible by the deployment of new “smart grid” technologies and the rapid work of pre-deployed teams who were ready to respond as soon as safe conditions allowed on Friday.

Crews continue to grapple with challenging conditions, including extensive tree damage, persistent flooding and multiple road closures. As today’s first full day of restoration progressed, the company determined that Hurricane Helene was the most destructive hurricane in its history, devastating infrastructure across the state. Additionally, there is the potential for additional damage and power outages that may occur due to saturated ground and weakened trees.

Friday afternoon, just a few hours after the storm ended Georgiathe company has published estimated recovery times (ERT) for multiple communities (read more). On Saturday, as damage assessment activities provided valuable insight into the damage and needed resources, the company released new ERTs for additional communities across the state, including Athens, Augusta, Brunswick, Clayton, Cornelia, Dublin, Gainesville, Hartwell, Hinesville, Macon, Madison, Milledgeville, Savanna, Springfield, Unitedboro, Thomson, Tifton, Valdosta, Vidalia, Waycross AND Waynesboro. ERTs represent a company’s expectation of restoring 95% of power to a specific area. As the company predicted and announced before the storm hit, maintenance work will take several days next week. The latest ERT messages for these and other areas are available on the company’s outage map.

Georgia Power recognizes the importance of accurate information for customers as they plan for their families following this historic storm. The company is committed to providing updated information throughout the remainder of the restoration process and will make every effort to restore power to customers sooner than expected. We encourage customers to frequently check the Outage Map for the latest information and not to rely on potentially inaccurate details they may see from sources other than the company.

The company continues to draw on additional resources outside its system and now has more than 14,000 employees engaged in the response, including support from Alabama Power, Mississippi Power and dozens of other companies. The response force currently committed is larger than the company’s response force to other major hurricanes, including Michael, Irma and Zeta.

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Preparation, industry support The key to response

Georgia Power monitored Hurricane Helene’s path for more than a week before the storm hit Georgia. In preparation, Georgia Power mobilized additional personnel from across the industry to respond to Hurricane Helene. Mobilized crews across the state deployed restoration workers, equipment and supplies near areas of anticipated impact, including additional transformers, poles, cables and other equipment. It’s all part of advance planning and strategy to enable the company to restore power to customers more quickly and efficiently as soon as weather conditions allow.

Georgia Power is also a member of the nationwide mutual aid network, which includes hundreds of utilities across the country. Georgia Power actively mobilized crews from over 35 companies from as far away as possible Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana, Pennsylvania AND New Jersey. The company continues to acquire additional off-system resources to assist with the response.

As always following Hurricane Helene, the company encourages customers to put safety first:

• Follow Georgia Power crews working across the state. If you’re driving, move out of the single lane for commercial vehicles parked on the roadside – that’s the law Georgia.

• Watch out for fallen wires. Downed power lines may be hidden under debris or fallen trees.

• Never touch a fallen wire or try to remove tree branches from power lines – it can kill you.

• Do not enter standing water or saturated ground where there may be downed ropes. They could be electrified.

• Avoid chain link fences. They can be electrified by a downed line out of sight and conduct electricity over long distances.

• Never attempt to repair electrical connections. Customers should also be aware that if their home, including their meter box or mast/connection point, is severely damaged by a storm, repairs may be required by an electrician before Georgia Power can restore power.

Tools you can use to stay connected and informed

• Break alerts – Customers who subscribe to our free Georgia Power Outage Notification service will receive personalized notifications and updates via text message. To receive the latest information, please check if your contact number is up to date.

• Failure and storm center – Available at www.GeorgiaPower.com/Storm. Customers can visit this website to ensure their contact information is up to date, to receive outage notifications, to report and check outage status, and to access helpful safety tips and information. Customers can also report and check outage status 24 hours a day by contacting Georgia Power at 888-891-0938.

• Failure map – Georgia Power’s interactive outage map, housed in the Outage and Storm Center, provides near real-time information, allowing users to see where outages are occurring across the state and track estimated restoration times.

• Georgia Power mobile app – Download the Georgia Power mobile app on Apple and Android devices to access storm and outage information wherever you are.

• @GeorgiaPower on X (Twitter) – Follow @GeorgiaPower on X for storm guidance, outage updates, customer service and more.

About Georgia Energy

Georgia Power is the largest electric subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), a leading U.S. energy company. Value, reliability, customer service and management are the cornerstones of the company’s promise to 2.7 million customers in all but four countries Georgia 159 counties. Committed to providing clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy, Georgia Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation mix that includes nuclear, coal and natural gas, as well as renewable energy sources such as solar, hydro and wind. Georgia Power focuses every day on providing world-class service to its customers and is recognized by J.D. Power as an industry leader in customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com and connect with the company on Facebook (Facebook.com/GeorgiaPower), X (X.com/GeorgiaPower) and Instagram (Instagram.com/ga_power).

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SOURCE Georgia Power