Minnesota electric co-ops send lineworkers to aid power restoration after hurricane

In a shining example of cooperative spirit at the start of Cooperative Month, 18 of Minnesota’s electric cooperatives sent 80 lineworkers to help restore power after Hurricane Helene caused outages to more than 1.25 million cooperative members in the southeastern United States. (These numbers do not include outages from investor-owned and municipal utilities.)

Mass devastation and outages have impacted cooperatives in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.

“As electric cooperatives, we follow seven principles, one of which is cooperation,” said Darrick Moe, CEO of the Minnesota Rural Electric Association (MREA). “Co-ops support one another, and combine that with the principle of concern for community, our co-ops and lineworkers are quick to help others and the communities they serve.”

The MREA began coordinating efforts with the South Carolina statewide association on Tuesday, Oct. 2, and by 6 a.m. Wednesday, trucks and crews were already rolling toward South Carolina. More crews continued to leave throughout the day.

Minnesota crews will be working to restore power for three electric cooperatives: Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, Broad River Electric Cooperative and Laurens Electric Cooperative. These lineworkers will join others from at least 18 states who have converged on the storm-ravaged region to rebuild systems after the massive devastation.

Some cooperatives in the south reported 80%, 90% and even 100% of their systems out of power. Laurens Electric reported 98% of its system down, hundreds of broken poles and only 3 of 34 substations having power after the storm passed.

Co-op veterans of 40+ years are calling this “unprecedented,” “catastrophic,” “worst damage in the history of the cooperative.”

In moments like these, the cooperative spirit shines bright, as line workers from co-ops around the country pack bags, load trucks with gear and kiss family members goodbye. Some will not come home for one or two weeks, possibly more, as they sacrifice for the sake of others in need.

“We can be very proud of how our member co-ops jumped at the chance to help their co-op family in other states,” Moe said. “We know other co-ops would do the same for us.”