As of Tuesday, Blue Ridge Cooperative was reporting ninety-nine percent of their members had power restored. Approximately 1,000 Blue Ridge members had power restored on Monday, dropping the percentage without service to 0.6 percent.
According to Communications Manager Riley Morningstar, more than 63,000 members have had their power restored since Tropical Storm Helene arrived in the Upstate on September 27. As of Monday, 470 members were without power.
Blue Ridge Coop crews reported 712 broken poles in their service area and expected the number to continue to increase, according to Morningstar. “This is more than triple what we recorded from the 2020 tornado. We are approaching almost 200 poles that have already been replaced. There are approximately 500 more to go.”
According to Morningstar, damage assessments by crews remain ongoing, particularly in the more remote areas served by the Coop. “Our service territory has the most rugged terrain in the state, which means access to many of these poles poses a unique challenge.”
Morningstar said it takes approximately four hours to replace a broken pole, many being replaced by Blue Ridge Coop are in areas inaccessible by machinery.
“This means the poles must be dug and placed by hand, just like they were in 1940 when the cooperative was formed. Some spans of line have as many as 10 broken poles on them. This will be a long process.”
