As Hurricane Sandy continues on its path toward landfall, Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) has assembled, pre-storm, the largest group of linemen and service restoration personnel in our 75-year history. We have 175 SMECO linemen, 144 Contract linemen, 60 Cooperative linemen from Georgia, 32 Cooperative linemen from North Carolina, and 122 tree workers for a total of 533 field workers ready for outage restoration deployment. We have additional employees in our Contact Center to aid our full staff of customer service representatives to handle outage calls.

“We are assembling a historic workforce to respond to what we are anticipating will be a historic storm,” said Austin J. Slater, Jr., SMECO president and CEO. “We are expecting significant damage to our system, and we urge our customer-members to take the necessary precautions to prepare for an extensive, prolonged outage restoration period.”

Slater noted that SMECO has been preparing for the storm for several days by remaining in contact with electric cooperatives from other states and securing additional resources from our contractors. He added that SMECO has a well-stocked inventory of the hardware and equipment needed for making repairs, and our vendors are prepared to send additional equipment if necessary. 

Customers can view a two-minute video, “Preparing for a Power Outage” to help them take steps to get ready before an outage occurs.  Customers can get more information or watch the video on the co-op’s website at www.smeco.coop.  SMECO’s October bills also included a brochure listing steps to take to prepare for power outages. 

SMECO customers should report power outages by calling the automated system at 1-877-747-6326 (1-877-74-SMECO).  SMECO’s outage restoration policy is to make repairs that will restore service to the most people in the least amount of time. Transmission lines and substations are repaired first, followed by distribution lines that feed neighborhoods; tap lines and individual service lines are then repaired to restore power to customers who may still be without electricity.

The following is a list of steps customers can take to prepare for power interruptions:

·     If someone in your household depends on electricity to operate life support systems, make plans for alternate sources of power or alternate lodging. For shelter updates, call SMECO’s special needs