Georgia Power Grid Emerges Stronger Following Hurricane Helene

One year ago, Georgia Power announced that it had largely completed immediate restoration work following Hurricane Helene with 95 percent of impacted customers restored within 8 days of the most destructive storm in the company’s history. The company mobilized its largest restoration effort ever with more than 20,000 personnel responding at the peak of restoration efforts, and partnering companies from across the country. Intensive restoration efforts were initiated in the hardest-hit areas of the state, including Valdosta, Augusta, and Savannah. Several of these areas were hard to reach and required helicopters, boats, and unmanned aerial vehicles to get responders close enough to restore power.

The company repaired or replaced 11,800+ power poles, 1,500+ miles of power lines, 5,800+ transformers, and addressed 3,200+ trees impacting lines. In some areas, the damage was so severe that crews had to rebuild portions of the power grid from the ground up.

With the approval of the Georgia Public Service Commission, Georgia Power has invested more than $10 billion over the last decade in smart grid technology and grid resiliency. Those investments have reduced the duration and frequency of outages, and made the grid more resilient to extreme weather.

During the height of Hurricane Helene, these advanced systems and automated devices prevented sustained outages for thousands of customers, automatically rerouting power around trouble areas and helping avoid thousands of hours of outage time for storm-ravaged homes, families, and businesses in some of the less-affected areas of the state such as Metro Atlanta and North Georgia. This enabled crews to quickly repair major problems and refocus their efforts on the hardest-hit communities.

In the months following Hurricane Helene, once customers were safely reconnected as quickly as possible, the company took the time to strategically rebuild parts of the grid with smarter technology and stronger infrastructure, which included upgrading power lines, poles, and transformers to enhance reliability and durability for future storms. For example, Georgia Power integrated self-healing grid technologies such as automatic electric-fault detection and automated switches helping to enhance monitoring, reliability, and energy efficiency for all customers.

“We understand the importance of reliable energy for families and businesses and are working every day to plan improvements and align our investments in grid resilience to deliver the best value for customers,” said Georgia Power Vice President of Strategy and Support Josh Stallings. “While this is an ongoing effort that has been underway for years, following Hurricane Helene, we recognized an opportunity to upgrade sections of the grid in impacted areas while we rebuilt from the ground up in many cases, making them stronger and more resilient. We’re proud to continue to be here for Georgia communities every day.”

Examples of work in areas impacted by Hurricane Helene include:

• Coastal Georgia: Several basic insulation level and sectionalizing projects have been completed in the last year benefiting more than 10,000 customers.
• East Georgia: Many sectionalizing projects in the Augusta area have taken place with more than 90 devices upgraded or added to the system that allows the grid to “self-heal.”
• South Georgia: Crews have reconductored circuits in Hahira and East Valdosta with larger wire, including more than a mile of new service lines.

To learn more about Georgia Power’s historic restoration efforts following Hurricane Helene, visit georgiapower.com/helene.