Alabama Power completes restoration following Hurricane Isaias

"Storm restoration at this scale is truly a team effort," said Scott Moore, Alabama Power senior vice president of Power Delivery. "From the predictive analytics and planning that took place before the storm, to the coordination of crews, equipment and materials during restoration, every part of the organization played a role. We were grateful for the support of mutual assistance crews from across the country, including our sister companies Mississippi Power and Georgia Power. Just as important was the tremendous coordination behind the scenes by Alabama Power employees who worked around the clock to support this restoration effort and help get customers' lights back on."

Throughout restoration, crews worked diligently to repair damage caused by strong winds, fallen trees and flooding. While much of the electric system remained resilient due to continued investments in grid resiliency, technology and infrastructure, some areas required rebuilding efforts.

Despite the broad geographic footprint of the storm, crews restored power to approximately 95% of affected customers within roughly 36 hours of beginning restoration efforts, with restoration substantially complete for most customers by the night of Monday, October 12.

The most severe damage occurred in Escambia and Monroe counties, where crews rebuilt portions of the electric system by replacing broken poles, repairing damaged equipment and reconstructing spans of wire in locations that were difficult to access.

"We know the days following Hurricane Isaias were difficult for many families across this area," said Kaleb Fain, an Alabama Power lineman who lives and works in Brewton, one of the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Isaias. "With support from additional crews from across the country, we did everything we could to restore service as safely and quickly as possible to get these communities back on their feet."

Like many customers in the area, Fain experienced Hurricane Isaias firsthand. He sustained significant storm damage at his own home and had to cut his way through fallen trees blocking his property before reporting to work and helping restore power to others.

Using technology to prepare and respond

Preparation efforts began days before Hurricane Isaias reached Alabama. As the storm approached the state's coast, Alabama Power used outage prediction technology to determine what areas could see the most impacts, how many additional resources would be needed and where crews, equipment and materials should be staged to respond safely and efficiently.

Alabama Power also uses outage prevention technology to automatically route power around a fault in a line to keep customers from experiencing a prolonged outage. If you noticed a blink in your service for a few seconds, that was likely Alabama Power's outage prevention technology at work. During Hurricane Isaias, Alabama Power's outage prevention technology helped keep more than 69,000 customers from experiencing extended outages, avoiding more than 11 million minutes of service interruption.

A coordinated, company-wide effort

Approximately 84% of Alabama Power's service territory experienced tropical-storm-force wind gusts during Isaias causing trees to fall and damaging power lines, so restoring power required a company-wide effort.

From Alabama Power's Storm Center team, control center personnel and engineers to field crews – including lineworkers, damage assessors and logistics teams – the company worked together to support customers and communities.

In addition to restoration efforts in the field, Alabama Power's Customer Operations team supported more than 4.1 million customer interactions, helping deliver timely outage information, restoration updates and support across the state.

Alabama Power also had more than 7,400 additional resources from 28 states supporting restoration efforts. This collaboration showcased the strength of Alabama Power's mutual assistance relationships, with utility crews from across the country working alongside local employees to restore service safely and efficiently.

Hurricane Isaias restoration by the numbers

• More than 400,000 customers experienced outages following Hurricane Isaias.
• More than 7,400 mutual assistance personnel from 28 states joined Alabama Power's Storm Team to support restoration efforts.
• More than 4.1 million customer interactions were handled during and after the storm.
• More than 69,000 customers kept from experiencing extended outages.
• Approximately 84% of Alabama Power's service territory experienced tropical-storm-force wind gusts.

Restoration timeline

October 10, 6 a.m.
Hurricane Isaias moved through parts of Alabama overnight, bringing strong winds, heavy rain and widespread impacts across Alabama Power's service territory. The storm made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph sustained winds. Approximately 233,000 customers had experienced outages as Hurricane Isaias moved through Alabama the night of October 10.

October 10, 11 a.m.
More than 267,000 customers had experienced outages, with more than 130,000 customers already restored.

October 10, 3 p.m.
Nine hours into restoration, more than 60% of impacted customers had been restored.

October 11, 6 a.m.
By 6 a.m. on Oct. 11, crews had restored service to approximately 90% of affected customers, including more than 350,000 customers restored on Oct. 10 alone.

October 11, 5 p.m.
More than 400,000 customers experienced outages as Hurricane Isaias moved through Alabama. By 5 p.m. on Oct. 11, power had been restored to more than 95% of affected customers.

October 14, 8:30 p.m.
Alabama Power completed restoration efforts following Hurricane Isaias.

While Alabama Power has completed restoration efforts, the company knows some families across south Alabama may still be without power and continues to keep those families, along with the utility crews working to restore service, in its thoughts.

Alabama Power thanks its customers for their patience throughout restoration efforts and extends its appreciation to the employees, contractors and mutual assistance crews who worked to safely restore power.

Media can access b-roll and images of crews at work in locations across the state through this Dropbox link.

About Alabama Power

Alabama Power, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO), provides reliable electricity to 1.6 million customers across the state. Learn more at AlabamaPower.com.

SOURCE Alabama Power Company