After working since 3:19 p.m. Thursday to restore outages resulting from the dense snowfall across the distribution system, Holston Electric Cooperative line crews and support personnel were relieved to have the last pole replaced, the last line repaired and power restored to the last customer at 5:23 p.m. on Sunday, January 20.

The co-op employees basically worked around-the-clock to get power restored as soon as possible.  “It took the coordinated efforts of all our cooperative employees and assistance from Asplundh tree trimming crews, Service Electric Line Contractors and a line crew from Fort Loudoun Electric Cooperative to restore power to more than 11,000 members in the three days following the snow storm,” said John Long, Holston Electric Cooperative Director of Engineering and Operations. “We’re thankful that the distribution system was repaired and power was restored to our customers with no accidents or injuries reported,” he added. 

“I want the cooperative members to know how much we appreciate their patience during this snow emergency,” stated Larry Elkins, Holston EC general manager.  “Living without electricity is not convenient or comfortable, especially in the winter. Yet messages of encouragement and support were coming in from phone calls, emails, Facebook postings and personal contacts. Power outages are times of extreme stress but our employees were able to respond with heroic efforts that the members recognized and appreciated,” he added.