Easley Combined Utilities Recognizes Team Efforts & Community Support Following Hurricane Helene

As of Saturday, October 5, the ECU team successfully restored all known outages: over 16,000 outages with over 90% of our customers impacted. Throughout the course of this eight-day effort, our employees worked well over 6,000 hours in an effort to restore electric services quickly and safely. Our team of 18 linemen, as well as 34 linemen from other utilities and 9 tree trimmers, replaced more than 75 poles, 75 transformers, and countless feet of wire and other equipment.

While our electric crews are certainly the most visible heroes in this historical outage, they were actively supported by all ECU departments:

• Water and sewer teams cleared trees and debris – allowing the electric department to focus solely on restoring electricity. These teams also addressed the water and sewer breaks associated with 10”+ of rain.

• The customer service team responded to a record number of calls and emails while tracking outages.

• The ECU office staff assisted with the ongoing preparation, service, and cleanup of meals for 80-90 crew members, including delivery so the linemen could continue working onsite. Servicemen gathered materials and troubleshot power issues.

• Our water and wastewater plant teams maintained operations at their respective plants and answered customer calls after hours. The wastewater treatment team had the specific challenge of continuing plant operations with the excessive rainfall.

• The information technology (IT) team completed site surveying for the electric department. They worked continually to restore phone and internet communications for ECU while maintaining status updates on the ECU website.

• Our purchasing and inventory employees ensured materials were onsite and readily available – including specific needs for our crews during the extended outage and work hours.

• ECU operations and engineering team members delivered materials, aided in site surveying, and maintained sewer and water operations under generator power.

• Our shop team cleared trees and roadways while in the field and kept all trucks and equipment running efficiently and safely.

• The ECU commissioners supported the entire staff from engaging with customers directly to helping serve food to our crews.

• Our general manager served as the first line of communication for state and local officials, as well as customers on social media. He worked alongside the electric superintendent throughout the restoration process and provided direct support for all ECU teams.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the ECU team is thoroughly reviewing existing processes and adding new procedures – and redundancies – to prepare for future restoration efforts.

“Every ECU employee rose to the occasion to show resilience and commitment in the face of an unprecedented challenge for our organization. The heart that they showed for our neighbors and community made me prouder than ever to be a part of this team. To our customers, your patience during power restoration and appreciation since are gifts that we don’t take for granted. We learned a lot during Helene and look forward to how we can apply that knowledge to be a better service provider for you today and in the future,” said Andy Sevic, General Manager of Easley Combined Utilities.

Easley Combined Utilities would like to specially recognize these organizations for their support:

• 5 Point Church

• American Legion

• Butterbeans Restaurant

• City of Easley (Administration, Police, Fire, and Public Works)

• City of Seneca

• Easley First Baptist Church

• Jimmy’s Family Restaurant

• LongHorn Steakhouse of Easley

• Neal Collins

• Outback Steakhouse of Easley

• Shannon Smith and Ashley Hare

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