Ice Big Problem for Power Restoration

Columbia, S.C. (WOLO) — Utility crews continue to work through the night to restore electricity to thousands of homes statewide. However, depending on where you live, restoration times will vary, leaving thousands in the dark longer than expected. Getting power restored is no easy task, say South Carolina Electric and Gas officials. The aftermath of the ice storm, when the ice melts. often destroys things in its path like trees and limbs, which take down power lines. “Tree limbs are continuing to fall,” said Retail Operations Supervisor, Kelly Kissam. “I’ve had lineman hit about the head and shoulders as a result of this. We started storm preparation on Sunday night when we acquired off system crews that came in from Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky in order to mobilize ahead of time. That’s been key in our ability to restore customers’ power.” But mother nature comes pounding back. As soon as power was restored to some 40,000 customers, for example, when heavy rain froze over night, trees barrelled over onto power lines again, creating more outages. At SCE&G’s peak, there were 104,000 without power. The Columbia based customer contact center is extremely busy. Hardest hit areas include Hampton, Summmerville, Dorchester County and Aiken. Officials say be patient. “When you have 675,000 customers, you obviously can’t have enough people to take a call with a person answering every call,” said utility spokesperson, Eric Boomhower. “We have an automated system; that’s the most efficient way to get information to us.” In addition to calling the automated line, going online, they say, is another good option. “Our resolve is to continue working 24hrs with whatever resources we have to put on the ground to get your power back on.” Call 1-888-333-4465 or visit sceg.com to report an outage.