Why more than 30,000 were without power Monday morning on Hilton Head, in Bluffton - Hilton Head Island Packet
Here’s the cause of Monday morning’s power outage on Hilton Head | Hilton Head Island Packet
Local
Why more than 30,000 were without power Monday morning on Hilton Head, in Bluffton
About 30,000 homes and businesses served by Palmetto Electric Cooperative were without power on Hilton Head Island and in parts of Bluffton Monday morning.
Santee Cooper, which maintains the transmission lines, had maintenance scheduled. An issue occurred while de-energizing the lines and resulted in the outage, according to Tray Hunter, spokesperson for Palmetto Electric.
The outage started around 7:40 a.m. and lasted about 20 minutes, Hunter said. A total of 30,531 meters were out, including those that power many traffic signals. As of 11:50 Monday, power was back for most customers.
Palmetto Electric has about 75,000 customers in Allendale, Beaufort, Hampton, Jasper counties.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: electricity
Electricity is a secondary energy source: it is generated through the conversion of primary energy sources such as natural gas, coal, solar, hydropower, and wind. Electricity’s versatility is not cost-free: a substantial amount of energy is lost in its generation and the cost of storage is high, compared with fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. The economics of battery technology hold the key to expanded use of renewable sources to generate electricity.