Crews deploying to Florida Monday

Indiana’s electric cooperatives are sending crews and equipment to assist in the Hurricane Dorian recovery efforts. The storm is expected to create widespread property and infrastructure damage throughout Florida and the southeastern part of the country.

Sixteen lineworkers from six of Indiana’s electric cooperatives will leave from Clark County REMC Monday, Sept. 2, to assist Central Florida Electric Cooperative, which is headquartered in Chiefland, Fla. The electric cooperative serves nearly 26,000 consumers with more than 4,200 miles of energized line.

“Every cooperative in the Indiana electric cooperative family is an integral part of a state and national network of hundreds of fellow cooperatives,” said Jon Elkins, vice president of safety, training and compliance for Indiana Electric Cooperatives. “It is incumbent upon us to work together and help one another in times of disaster to make sure our power delivery systems are repaired as quickly, safely and cost-effectively as possible.”

Because the national network of transmission and distribution infrastructure owned by electric cooperatives has been built to federal standards, line crews from any American electric cooperative can arrive on the scene ready to provide support, secure in their knowledge of the system’s engineering.

“Indiana’s electric cooperatives take care of needs at home first, but our crews are eager to help those in need,” said John Gasstrom, CEO of Indiana Electric Cooperatives. “They take tremendous pride in representing their home cooperative and the state of Indiana. They represent us well with how hard, professionally and safely they work.”

The Indiana electric cooperative mutual aid program is coordinated by Indiana Electric Cooperative’s safety, training and compliance department and provides cooperative assistance in service restoration from storms or other events that result in significant power outages.