Laurens Electric Cooperative prepares for winter storm, plan of action in place

With extreme winter weather such as ice and freezing rain pushing into our area, Laurens Electric Cooperative is urging its members to make preparations now in case of widespread and prolonged power outages.

Before a storm ever hits, Laurens Electric Cooperative plans how to prevent and correct any resulting outages.

However, ice on trees and power lines can equal a worst-case scenario, and depending on ice accumulation, members should be prepared for the possibility that power could be unavailable for days in some situations.

The co-op has prepared for the possibility of worsening weather conditions with extra supplies and crews, and has emergency call-center capabilities.

Currently, the co-op has additional contract and right-of-way crews ready to respond, and 5 crews from cooperatives in Florida will arrive Saturday.

Staff and line crews will be on-hand and on-call 24 hours a day, working to restore any outages.

To report a power outage or damaged equipment, members should call 1-866-9RESTORE.

Laurens Electric would like to remind the public in the event of downed power lines to stay away and call emergency officials as well as the cooperative at 1-800-942-3141.

If someone requires life support equipment such as a respirator, make sure to have a backup source of power ready or an alternate location to go to if the primary source of power does go out.

Keep your backup generator in good condition and test it periodically. If your power goes out, disconnect appliances and turn off lights. When power is restored, multiple appliances coming on at once could cause a power surge that could damage your equipment.

Visit www.laurenselectric.com/outage for real-time outage information, report an outage, and learn how we prepare for storms.

How LEC restores service after major outages

The goal is to get the power back on ASAP for the greatest number of members.

Widespread damage from a severe storm may make it impossible to accurately predict when power will be restored — especially in the early phases, while the extent of damage is being assessed.

What crews encounter when they arrive at the actual restoration sites is always different. For example, a distribution line serving a local area may have multiple damage locations, all of which must be found and repaired.

On-going and dangerous weather conditions, uneven or difficult terrain, the need for various repair supplies, and a number of other factors make it difficult to predict power restoration times. And requiring minute-by-minute updates and estimates would divert crews in the field from their primary focus – restoring power to members.

The main goal is to safely restore power to the greatest number of customers in the shortest time possible.

Keep in mind that if there is damage to power plants, switchyards or transmission lines, those facilities must be repaired by their power supplier before they can restore individual service. Transmission lines seldom fail, but they can be damaged by ice storms. Tens of thousands of people could be served by a single high-voltage transmission line.

When those facilities are working, any problems in the co-op’s electric distribution system can be corrected. Three primary areas of the system must be addressed.

1 — Substations are repaired first. Distribution substations each serve thousands of members. When a major outage occurs, the local distribution substations are checked first. If the problem can be corrected at the substation level, power may be restored to a large number of people.

2 — Distribution lines are repaired. Main distribution supply lines are checked next if the problem cannot be isolated at the substation. These supply lines carry electricity away from the substation to a group of members, such as a subdivision. When power is restored at this stage, all members served by this supply line could see the lights come on, if there is no problem farther down the line.

3 — Individual services are restored. The final supply lines, called service lines, carry power from the transformer on utility poles or underground transformers outside houses or other buildings. Line crews fix the remaining outages based on restoring service to the greatest number of members.

Sometimes, damage will occur on the service line between your house and the transformer on the nearby pole. This may explain why you have no power when your neighbor does. The co-op needs to know you have an outage here, so a service crew can repair it.