Heartland joins Hurricane Helene restoration efforts

Crews in western North Carolina have been working to restore service to residents there following the devastation of Hurricane Helene. Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative and 14 other Kansas rural electric cooperatives have been sent to help restore power in that state. (FEMA)

Press release

Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative is one of 15 Kansas electric cooperatives answering the call from Aiken Electric Cooperative in South Carolina to provide mutual aid assistance after Hurricane Helene left its service territory devastated and more than 100,000 of its members without power.

More than 80 lineworkers from Kansas electric co-ops convoying with nearly 40 pieces of equipment — from bucket trucks to diggers to skid steers — left Kansas the morning of Oct. 3 to aid in Aiken’s power restoration efforts. Five Heartland lineworkers are among those making the trek to South Carolina.

At the height of the storm, Aiken reported 92 percent of its system was down, leaving only a few thousand members with power. As of Oct. 2, around half of their members were still without power.

The damage was so severe, Aiken Electric Cooperative reported that the effort required is "more than power restoration but rather a complete system rebuild.”

Kansas Electric Cooperatives Inc. (KEC) helped organize the mutual aid delegation from Kansas. The following Kansas electric co-ops have sent crews and equipment:

• 4 Rivers Electric Cooperative, Lebo

• Bluestem Electric Cooperative, Clay Center and Wamego

• Butler Electric Cooperative, El Dorado

• Caney Valley Electric Cooperative, Cedar Vale

• DSO Electric Cooperative, Solomon

• Flint Hills Rural Electric Cooperative, Council Grove

• FreeState Electric Cooperative, McLouth and Topeka

• Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative, Girard

• Lane-Scott Electric Cooperative, Dighton

• Nemaha-Marshall Electric Cooperative, Axtell

• Pioneer Electric Cooperative, Ulysses

• Southern Pioneer Electric Company, Medicine Lodge and Liberal

• Twin Valley Electric Cooperative, Altamont

• Victory Electric Cooperative, Dodge City

• Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Scott City

The electric cooperative mutual aid model allows electric co-ops to help each other during times of need. This approach permits co-ops to “borrow” restoration workers from other co-ops, thereby increasing the workforce response to areas impacted by a major outage event.

Electric co-ops were formed to provide reliable electric service to their members at the lowest reasonable cost, and mutual aid has been a fundamental part of their DNA from the very beginning. The concept of mutual aid originated with the rural electrification efforts in the 1930s.

Kansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (KEC) is the statewide service organization for 26 electric distribution cooperatives and three generation and transmission cooperatives.

Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative Inc. powers rural lifestyles throughout more than 11,000 locations in eastern Kansas. Heartland’s service area includes consumer-members in 12 counties, including Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Cherokee, Coffey, Crawford, Labette, Linn, Miami, Neosho, Wilson, and Woodson.