SRE crews help Beauregard Electric in Louisiana
It’s hard to wait and watch as a category 4 hurricane nears an area. It’s even harder to wait to respond and help a fellow cooperative after devastating reports of property damage and large-scale power outages, but the bottom line is the affected cooperative must be ready to receive your help.
Beauregard Electric, headquartered in DeRidder, serves 43,000 meters in rural southwest, central Louisiana. They were one of two Louisiana electric cooperatives decimated by Hurricane Laura. Following the storm, all members were without power.
Singing River Electric prepped for the storm but as we realized it was headed west, we notified the Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi (ECM) that we were ready to answer the call for help. ECM provides support services, including mutual aid, for all 26 Mississippi electric cooperatives.
“Our linemen were anxious to head to Louisiana and do what they do best,” said SRE General Manager and CEO Brian Hughey. “We let them know that the housing conditions might be hard, but they didn’t care. They just wanted to help.”
At the time of publishing, Singing River Electric had sent two separate crews to Beauregard Electric including 22 crew members and 10 vehicles. They joined 1,200 crew members from 12 states working to restore power.
“Beauregard Electric believes it will take four weeks to complete repairs and energize their communities,” said Hughey. “They have linemen on every circuit and are making great progress. We are proud to help, not only Beauregard Electric, but these communities and families in Louisiana.”