'Tent city' emerges as Aiken Electric Co-Op brings in hundreds of linemen following Helene

Oct. 5—A week after Tropical Storm Helene tore through Aiken County and the surround region, thousands remain without power.

But resources poured into the area late in the week, including hundreds of linemen from other parts of the country, and power is steadily being restored.

Aiken Electric Co-Op has its "tent city" set up on Bettis Academy Road. The company is housing and feeding about 700 linemen there. With Aiken Electric employees, the total is closer to 800.

"We're thankful to have linemen coming from our sister co-ops. I've met some from Wisconsin and Kansas," said Daniele Ligons, Aiken Electric's manager of marketing and strategic services. "Great to meet everyone, and thankful to have people coming to restore power and get everyone's lives back to normal."

Before the makeshift tent city was erected, Ligons said Aiken Electric was trying to house and feed the workers in its offices around the area.

As of Saturday, Oct. 5, Aiken Electric had restored power to more than 38,000 of its 52,000 customers, or 73% of their service areas.

"We would like our members to know that we are doing what it takes to get the job done," Ligons said. "Electric cooperatives serve more of the rural areas compared to other providers service territory so we are up against more damage and covering more spans of line and broken poles."

State Rep. Bill Taylor, a Republican representing the eastern portion of the county, said Aiken Electric had made "amazing progress considering the enormous damage the hurricane did to the electric grid."

Taylor said in a Facebook post that Aiken Electric had more than 500 broken poles, 130 destroyed transformers and 30.5 miles of wire damaged and/or down.

"Remember, this is not a simple re-connect — it's a re-build," Taylor wrote. "For those awaiting the lights to come on, please be patient. From what I'm observing, AEC is far outperforming the estimates for reconnect that you were provided in their email. (Under promise, over deliver.)"

Text and email messages were sent out Oct. 3 to some Aiken Electric customers advising that it might take several weeks for power to be restored, but several of those customers had their power restored the same day.

"We hope that (customers) would be patient and understanding and appreciate both their patience and understanding this far," Ligons said. "For the most recent updates, they can check our Facebook page. We also have a list of resources available for residents on our website."

S.C. Sen. Tom Young, R-Aiken, gave attendees of Aiken Chamber of Commerce's monthly First Friday Means Business breakfast an update on power restoration.

Young said the two power companies, Aiken Electric and Dominion Energy, have nearly 1,500 linemen working in Aiken and Edgefield counties. Another 800 are expected to arrive Saturday, Oct. 5.

"They're doing everything they can, y'all, to get our power back," Young said.

"Some people say, 'Gosh, I still can't believe I don't have power.' I tell them, 'Look, just say that Sen. Young doesn't have power at his house either," he said.

Dominion Energy and Aiken Electric reported a total of 1,910 power poles destroyed, 610 transformers needing replacement, and more than 162 miles of powerlines downed in the storm.

Young said it takes a four-person crew approximately four to six hours to replace a power pole, two to three hours to install a transformer, and three hours to replace each section of power line.

Staff writer Carl Dawson contributed to this .