JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – JEA crews headed north Friday morning to assist with potential power restoration efforts as a major winter storm threatens the eastern two-thirds of the U.S.
Forty JEA team members, including 37 electric line workers and three fleet support staff, left around 7 a.m. Friday for Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They will support Santee Cooper, a public power utility serving South Carolina’s Atlantic Coast region.
The crews are part of a larger mutual aid response that includes 15 public power utilities from across Florida.
The storm is expected to bring extreme cold and possibly icy conditions—weather that presents unique challenges for utility workers in the Southeast.
“You know the weather conditions are going to be adverse,” said Clay Cook, one of the JEA crew members who deployed.
Cook told News4JAX reporter Briana Brownlee and photojournalist Jesse Hanson that crews were traveling ahead of the storm to make sure they are in place to help restore power quickly if needed.
Ice storms can significantly increase the risk of power outages, weighing down power lines and making travel and restoration work more dangerous.
Officials across the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. have been sounding the alarm about the potential for freezing rain to wreak havoc on power systems. In the South, especially, losing electricity doesn’t just mean the lights going out. It means losing heat.
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That’s because a majority of homes are heated by electricity in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Ice storms are especially punishing, experts say, because of what happens after they move out: Crews struggle to reach damaged lines on ice-covered roads; cold, wet weather takes a toll on workers; and problems can linger for days as ice-laden branches continue to snap.
JEA crew member Cook said preparation is key before heading into those unfamiliar conditions.
“Ice storms have their own challenges,” he said. “We aren’t really used to that in the South; we don’t really get ice. We take a day to stock the trucks up and make sure we’re paying attention to the typical safety stuff we do on a day-to-day basis, and just be ready.”
JEA Managing Director and CEO Vickie Cavey said the deployment reflects the strength of the public power mutual aid network.
“We are honored to assist a neighboring community when they need us most,” Cavey said. “This is what it means to be part of a national network of public power utilities—working together to restore power and support recovery.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.