REC and an additional 200 mutual aid workers from Virginia and out-of-state electric co-ops have restored more than 92 percent of the outages caused by the catastrophic wind storm that hammered the state last week.
About 3,600 outages remained as of 9 a.m., all of them in REC's western territory, which saw the strongest wind gusts. REC still expects to have most, if not all, service restored by the end of Wednesday.
Now that the remaining outages are concentrated in one region, crews are able to flood that area with manpower and equipment as they continue the tedious task of repairing the extensive damage.
"We recognize the inconvenience of going without electricity for several days," said Robbie Beard, manager or REC's western region. "The guys in the field are putting all their energy into restoring service to all members as quickly and safely as possible."
Many of the remaining outages will require the significant time and effort to restore. For instance, replacing a pole and re-stringing wire in an area with difficult terrain can take several hours, and the work might restore only a couple of members at a time. But crews will continue to work nonstop until all service is restored.
REC provides electric service to over 165,000 connections in parts of 22 Virginia counties. With its general office in Fredericksburg, Va., the Cooperative operates and maintains more than 17,000 miles of power lines through its service area, which ranges from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay. For more information about REC, please visit www.myrec.coop. Follow REC on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
