Between the Lines: A ‘By the Numbers’ look at what it takes for lineworkers to get your power back on
During the 0.02% of the time that the power is out, our line men and women work relentlessly to get the lights back on. (Alabama Power)
Alabama Power has a reliability rating of 99.98%. That means our customers almost always have the power they need and expect.
And … during the 0.02% of the time that the power is out, our linemen and -women work relentlessly to get the lights back on.
But there are times, like the recent Memorial Day storms, when getting the power back on is even more challenging than usual.
Anthony Cook is the media relations principal for Alabama Power Company.
In addition to heavy rain and straight-line winds, the National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-1 tornado with winds of around 105 miles per hour touched down in northern Cherokee County.
Overall, wind blew down an excessive number of trees, causing major damage to our power lines and power poles in various locations around the state, particularly in central Alabama.
In some cases, our FISR (fault isolation, service restoration) system allowed customers to avoid extended outages. FISR automatically identifies the source of an outage and routes power around it, when possible, to quickly restore service while linemen work to repair the source of the outage.
Whenever your power goes out and returns a few moments later, that was likely FISR routing power around the source of the outage.
Here’s a look at the effort it took to get power restored following the storms that swept through the state during the early hours of Monday, May 27.
By the numbers
The inclement weather caused 990 outages across the state.
More than 138,000 customers lost power from those outages.
Metro Birmingham was the hardest-hit area with 60,000 customers losing power.
Restoration required:
- 795 spans of wire
- 147 poles
- 92 transformers
- 3,676 responders (2,700 Alabama Power personnel; 976 contract line workers)
That team was able to restore power to more than 133,000 customers in the first 24 hours after the storms, but various circumstances made it difficult to get the lights back on for the remaining 5,000 customers.
Per protocol, Alabama Power prioritizes restoring power to locations that impact public safety and health, like hospitals and nursing homes, and focus on hardest-hit areas so that we can get the largest number of customers on as quickly as possible.
By Tuesday night, May 28, power was back on for more than 90% of affected customers, with the rest restored by noon on Wednesday, May 29.
More recently, Alabama Power sent a 350-person storm team, including 300 resident contractors, to Houston, Texas, to aid CenterPoint Energy in restoration efforts after the devastation caused by Hurricane Beryl, which left more than 2 million residents without power. The team repaired and/or replaced 113 poles, 962 spans of wire, 83 transformers, 809 services and 96 switches. After working around the clock for almost two weeks in extreme heat and humidity, the storm team returned home Friday having helped restore service to 99% of affected customers.
Those residents were extremely grateful for the assistance, with hundreds of them taking to social media to express their gratitude.
“From a grateful Texan, thank you guys and gals for all your efforts and time away from your families to help us out down here. I know there’s a lot of negativity floating around, but the other 99% of us greatly appreciate everything. 
”
The term “hero” gets tossed around a lot these days, but I believe the way those men and women work around the clock to restore power to our customers – and beyond – is truly heroic.
Anyone looking to join the team should check into our 10-week lineworker program where we partner with community colleges around the state to train future lineworkers.
Meantime, Alabama Power customers can always stay on top of the latest outage information, including expected restoration times, by using our outage map.
Between the Lines is an occasional column by Alabama Power’s Anthony Cook, sharing energy education that powers our daily lives.
