By Staff
special to the standard
Southern Pine Electric Cooperative has sent a five-man construction crew to Kenergy Corporation in Kentucky to assist in the power restoration effort in that state.
Local linemen now helping out in hard-hit Kentucky are Tracy Emmons, Tommy Cole, Jeff Kelley, Ricky Quates and Chad Morris.
More than 700,000 Kentucky homes and businesses were left without power a week ago when a deadly ice storm struck the area, wrecking the state's power grid. Hundreds of thousands of people remain without power in sub-freezing temperatures as power crews from across the nation work diligently to rebuild power lines and restore electricity to the area.
Southern Pine's linemen are helping crews from its sister cooperative, Kenergy Corporation, the third largest co-op in Kentucky, with 52,000 members in portions of 14 counties. Southern Pine's crew will remain working in the area for approximately one week. The co-op may send another crew to Kentucky to continue assisting Kenergy once this crew returns to Alabama.
Southern Pine Electric Cooperative, a Touchstone Energy Cooperative, is headquartered in Brewton, with district offices in Atmore, Evergreen and Frisco City. The co-op provides electricity to more than 20,000 accounts in five counties.