ACE Power Crew Heads to Alabama to Help After Isaias

An Alcorn County Electric Power Association line crew left Corinth on Sunday morning, headed for south Alabama, to help another cooperative restore power knocked out by Hurricane Isaias. ACE Power said its crew traveled to Brewton, Alabama, to assist Southern Pine Electric with storm restoration.

The utility, which brands itself as ACE Power, shared the news on its official Facebook page Sunday along with video of its trucks heading out. “Please keep our crew, and all the crews out there working hard, in your thoughts and prayers for a safe trip and swift restoration,” the cooperative wrote.

ACE Power crew joins Isaias recovery

Brewton sits in Escambia County, Alabama, near the Florida line, closer to where Isaias came ashore. ACE Power did not say how many linemen made the trip or how long the crew expects to be gone. Mutual aid assignments like this one usually last until the host utility has its members back online, and crews are often moved to a new area once one job wraps up.

Southern Pine Electric is a member-owned cooperative serving rural parts of south Alabama. When a storm damages more poles and lines than a single co-op can repair quickly, neighboring and out-of-state cooperatives send crews and trucks to help. The host utility directs the work, and the visiting crews are typically reimbursed for their costs.

Local outages came first

The trip came after ACE Power finished its own cleanup from the storm. On Saturday, as the remnants of Isaias moved across Northeast Mississippi, gusty winds caused a large outage in the Glen area and brought down a pole behind Belk in Corinth. ACE Power reported about 498 outages on its system at the height of the problem Saturday afternoon.

Other North Mississippi utilities held their crews at home over the weekend for the same reason. WTVA reported that 4-County Electric in Columbus had planned to send linemen south but kept them home when Isaias’s winds caused thousands of outages in Lowndes County.

How to report an ACE Power outage

ACE Power members who lose service should report the outage directly to the cooperative instead of on social media, so it can be logged and assigned to a crew. Members can:

• Call ACE Power’s outage line, listed on monthly bills and at ace-power.com
• Use the cooperative’s online outage map and reporting tools at ace-power.com
• Follow ACE Power on Facebook for restoration updates during major storms

Never approach a downed power line. Assume every line is energized, stay at least 30 feet away, and call the utility or 911.

ACE Power, based on South Tate Street in Corinth, calls itself “America’s First Rural Electric Cooperative.” The co-op’s crew joins many line workers from across the South who have headed to the Gulf Coast to help after Isaias.

Related: Isaias Power Outages Hit Glen, Corinth as Winds Gust

Source: Alcorn County Electric Power Association (Facebook)