“This New ERA funding through Rural Utilities Service enables EKPC to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and maintain competitive rates for rural Kentucky,” said Tony Campbell, EKPC’s president and CEO. “These funds will support renewable resources, including the proposed new solar facilities in Fayette and Marion counties, which will advance EKPC’s strategy to cut carbon intensity and diversify its generating portfolio.”
EKPC plans to construct or procure 757 megawatts of renewable energy for rural portions of Kentucky, as well as improve the regional transmission grid to support renewable projects and increase energy efficiency.
“The New ERA funds will play a vital role in EKPC’s thoughtful, common-sense approach to cutting carbon emissions while minimizing the cost impact for 1.1 million Kentucky residents in 89 counties,” said Anderson County resident Jody Hughes, who represents Blue Grass Energy on EKPC’s board. “This funding helps meet the needs of the people and organizations we serve, especially businesses and industries looking to reduce their carbon footprints.”
EKPC is working with Rural Utilities Service to finalize the New ERA underwriting and funding agreement.
“Many of the big economic development projects we’re working on – and we’re working on a bunch of them – have business leaders telling us, ‘You’ve got to provide us this much in renewable energy by this date,’” Beshear said. “And today’s award means East Kentucky Power is going to help us meet this demand and land more projects and more jobs in the coming years.”
“When we transition to clean energy, we lower the toxic pollution in our air and water,” Berke added. “At the same time, this funding will keep costs low and allow rural Kentuckians to save money on their electric bill.”
Lineworkers describe the massive mutual aid effort
Three weeks after Hurricane Helene’s devastation triggered the largest mutual aid response in Kentucky electric cooperative history, more than 100 Kentucky lineworkers continue to restore power to sister co-ops in Georgia and North Carolina, with the deployment for some crews potentially lasting another week.
Co-op crews restoring power at Satilla EMC in Georgia after Hurricane Helene
Crews who have returned home to Kentucky are describing what they experienced among Helene’s flooding, landslides and tragedy.
“This is the worst storm I’ve ever worked,” said Owen Electric Service Technician Bobby VonBokern, who has worked for the co-op since 2007 and has been assisting in Georgia. “At least every other span of wire is down. We’re basically building Satilla REMC’s whole grid from the ground up since its start in 1937. The damage was catastrophic.”
At the height of the mutual aid response, more than 250 personnel from 19 Kentucky co-ops were working in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. In addition, more than 100 Kentucky co-op contractors also responded to the calls for help.
Jackson Energy crews assisting Laurens Electric Cooperative in South Carolina after Hurricane Helene
“It is very heart-wrenching to see firsthand how the forces of nature can bring such disruption and devastation to these communities and the people that live here,” said Brandon Keyton, a four-year Jackson Energy Lineman. “It is very humbling to be able to bring a little normality back to those affected by these storms. It weighs heavy on your heart but is worth the sacrifice away from our families back home.”
Helene knocked out electric service to an estimated 1.25 million co-op members in the southeastern U.S, including 100,000 co-op consumer-members in Kentucky. Many of the crews who helped in other states responded first to mutual aid requests within Kentucky, such as Kenergy Corp. which assisted Clark Energy in Winchester.
A mutual aid crew from Farmers RECC helps fellow Kentucky co-op Clark Energy after remnants of Hurricane Helene damaged the electric system
“We were taken good care of by the cooperative. Clark’s members were very thankful and showed much gratitude for us being there,” recalled Chris Bennett, a Kenergy Construction Crew Foreman who was part of a crew who also assisted Laurens Electric Cooperative in South Carolina.
Kenergy crews work to restore power to Laurens Electric Cooperative in South Carolina
“We have 40-year co-op veterans who say this is the worst and most widespread destruction they’ve seen in their careers. The damage is catastrophic,” said Jim Donahoo, a Laurens Electric Cooperative spokesperson. “We hate to keep using the word ‘unprecedented,’ but it is. We have never experienced this combination of tropical storm-force winds, rainfall and flooding in the Upstate of South Carolina.”
“Laurens Electric was very thankful for our assistance,” Bennett added. “This was a first of its kind of storm for this cooperative. The members were very thankful and excited to see us. We were cooked lunch by several members whose power had been off for 8 days. That was the best lunch we had eaten! We were also given cold drinks and hand-colored cards from a little girl thanking us for turning on her power.”
A Warren RECC crew provides mutual aid to Jefferson Energy Cooperative in Wrens, Georgia after Hurricane Helene
Nick Hudnall, a Warren RECC Operations Supervisor, thanked Jefferson Energy Cooperative in Wrens, Georgia for their trust in power restoration, saying it “was truly an honor” to help.
“I’ve never been on storm relief where members were so kind to us and understanding of what we were there to do,” Hudnall said. “I’d be more than happy to go back and help these co-ops any time they need it.”
Nearly 10,000 co-op personnel from 24 states descended upon the areas hardest hit by Helene. To help meet the unprecedented demand, the co-ops canceled the 2024 Kentucky Lineman’s Rodeo, scheduled for October 3-4 at East Kentucky Power Cooperative. The annual event is a highlight of the year for Kentucky lineworkers who compete in a variety of events which demonstrate the skills and safety of the trade.
“We are guided by cooperative principles,” said Chris Perry, president and CEO of both Kentucky Electric Cooperatives and United Utility Supply Cooperative which serves co-ops in 20 states. “One of our principles is Cooperation Among Cooperatives, and state borders are no barrier when any member of our co-op family is in crisis.”
In addition to supplying critical materials to co-ops rebuilding after Helene, United Utility Supply donated tens of thousands of bottled water to North Carolina cooperatives whose members faced a water emergency. In daily contact with other statewide co-op associations, Kentucky Electric Cooperatives coordinated the record mutual aid deployment after Helene.
“Many of the co-ops where we are restoring power after Helene have sent mutual aid crews into Kentucky after ice storms, windstorms and tornadoes here,” said Randy Meredith, Director of Safety and Training at Kentucky Electric Cooperatives. “Mutual aid deployments provide invaluable training opportunities, so co-op crews everywhere are better prepared to respond to emergencies here at home.”
“There was a lot of damage, wires down and broken poles,” explained Jacob Courtney, a Kenergy line technician based in Marion. “Every consumer-member that we met was very appreciative and thankful for us being there. We worked long hours in some tough territory, but we were happy to help where we could.”
Working to restore power in North Carolina, Licking Valley RECC crews emphasized the similarities of their respective service territories and workforces.
“If Licking Valley ever needs help, we need to call the guys at Blue Ridge Energy,” said Licking Valley RECC Lineman Trenton Reed. “Great guys and experienced hill climbers.”
“Couldn’t ask for a better a group of guys to work with,” added his co-worker, Evan Robertson.
The top priority of each local Kentucky co-op is service to its own consumer-members. Before committing resources to mutual aid requests, each co-op ensures it has ample crews available for all local needs, including routine maintenance and emergencies.
The Kentucky electric co-op mutual aid crews regard the co-op members devasted by Helene as some of their own.
“These are the nicest and most patient members I’ve ever met,” VonBokern said, “given their circumstances.”
“All in all,” added Bennett, “long days and hard work bring joy and the return of some normalcy for people in need.”
Once the huge job of restoring power from Hurricane Helene is done, some electric cooperatives in the Southeast face an even more daunting task: completely rebuilding their systems destroyed by the storm’s ferocious winds and flooding rains.
“This is not just a matter of power outages; it’s about lives turned upside down, homes lost and communities facing weeks—if not months—of recovery,” Thomas Golden, CEO of EnergyUnited in Statesville, North Carolina, said at a news conference hosted by NRECA last week.
“Some of our hardest-hit areas are not dealing with a simple fix. They’re facing a complete rebuild of their electrical infrastructure, their roads and even their daily lives.”
Co-ops have an especially tough task of rebuilding because they serve some of the most remote areas of the country, said Mike Couick, president and CEO of the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina.
One of the state’s co-ops, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative in Pickens, saw its underground power lines wash down the mountainside, along with trees and power poles, Couick said.
“They’re rebuilding a system of 7,300 miles of line,” he said. “That’s almost the diameter of the planet Earth. And it runs straight up mountainsides.”
Ron Barnes, president and CEO of Coast Electric Power Association in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, knows better than most what it means to rebuild a co-op system after a disaster. He was working at the co-op as vice president of marketing, member services and public relations when Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast in 2005.
Coast Electric lost 30,000 power poles and 10,000 transformers. It took a full year and $110 million for the co-op to rebuild its system, with major funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“It’s not as dark as it seems at the moment,” he advises co-ops hit by Hurricane Helene. “You have all these pressures on you, and you say, ‘Oh my gosh, how are we ever going to do this?’ It seems like it will never end when you’re in the middle of it, but it does.”
The co-op restored power in just three weeks to members whose homes and businesses were still standing after Katrina.
Hurricanes Laura and Delta caused widespread damage in the service territory of Jeff Davis Electric Cooperative in 2020. (Photo Courtesy: Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives)“If you’re our member and you used to get power through Substation A and that substation is down, we can route you through Substation B,” Barnes said.
“The immediate goal of every co-op after a hurricane is to get your lights back on as quickly as possible. But then we’ve got to go back and rebuild everything that was lost.”
At the peak of Katrina, Coast Electric had 3,200 people working to restore power. After that, it kept 500 contract employees working with its own crews for a year to rebuild the system, Barnes said.
An essential part of rebuilding is replacing crucial equipment, including transformers, power poles and overhead line splices used to reconnect broken distribution lines.
United Utility Supply, which is owned by electric co-ops in 20 states, had already sent out about 500 to 600 transformers to storm-damaged co-ops within the first few days after Hurricane Helene, said Phil Clark, vice president of sales and operations.
The not-for-profit Louisville, Kentucky-based supply co-op keeps about 10,000 transformers on hand throughout its eight warehouses, Clark said. The transformer shortages caused by the COVID-19 international supply chain crisis are no longer a significant problem, he said.
“We run our own truck fleet,” Clark said. “We prepare for a storm just like the co-ops do. We line up warehouse teams, and drivers will take multiple loads per day and night directly to the co-ops.”
Co-ops typically take out loans to pay for the equipment, then seek reimbursement from FEMA after they rebuild, he said.
UUS gets some unusual requests from co-ops during restorations, such as hundreds of Styrofoam cups and plates to serve food to mutual aid crews that have come in from other co-ops to help restore power. Clark turned to a restaurant supply company to help it fulfill that request.
“A co-op also may run out of something that they use all the time,” he said. “Instead of them having to track down an alternative part, we’ll find the next best thing that meets the specs and get it to them.”
When a co-op is rebuilding, it can often find ways to make its system better, said Mike Heinen, CEO of Jeff Davis Electric Cooperative in Jennings, Louisiana. JDEC is still rebuilding parts of its transmission system more than four years after it was walloped by back-to-back hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020.
“Along the coast, all of my metal transmission towers went down,” Heinen said. “You can’t just throw up new metal towers. The system crosses two rivers and a waterway. I have to go through the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Natural Resources and probably five other federal agencies to sign off on it all.”
When it’s all done next June, the co-op will have a larger transmission system, putting in a FEMA-approved 230-kilovolt line to replace a 69 kV line, he said.
“My advice to co-ops going through this now is: Try not to look at the whole picture, because if you do, you’ll give up. Take it a day at a time, a piece at a time, and eventually it all comes together.”
With power restored within Kentucky, hundreds of lineworkers and contractors from the commonwealth’s electric cooperatives are now helping sister co-ops in other states ravaged by Hurricane Helene in one of the largest mutual aid deployments in the program’s history.
More than 150 co-op personnel from Kentucky’s electric cooperatives are providing mutual aid in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, joining crews from 18 other states. These co-op employees are in addition to the hundreds of contract crew members released by Kentucky co-ops so they can also respond to the calls for help.
“We are finding more destruction and houses that have been damaged beyond repair,” said Mitch Bearden, Chief Communications Officer at Haywood EMC in Waynesville, North Carolina, one of the co-ops where Kentucky crews are working to rebuild the electric system.
Flooding and landslides have swept away roads, limiting access to infrastructure and isolated communities.
“What we are currently finding is absolutely unprecedented,” Bearden continued. “I am unsure of a number of homes or businesses that may be forever gone due to these storms across our service area. We know that there are many and are hopeful we can play any part in being there for these folks who have lost everything. Some of these people are also our employees.”
The deployment to the southeastern states follows the successful restoration of power within Kentucky where more than 100,000 consumer-members lost power. Central and Eastern Kentucky experienced 40-60 mph winds, snapping tree limbs and toppling whole trees into power lines, breaking hundreds of poles across Kentucky. The region also received 3-5 inches of rainfall during this event.
The 2024 Kentucky Lineman’s Rodeo, scheduled for October 3-4 at East Kentucky Power Cooperative, was canceled in deference to the mutual aid needs. The annual event is a highlight of the year for Kentucky lineworkers who compete in a variety of events which demonstrate the skills and safety of the trade.
On daily calls with mutual aid coordinators from statewide associations such as Kentucky Electric Cooperatives, co-op leaders in Georgia and South Carolina are anticipating it could take three more weeks to restore power. North Carolina co-ops indicate it could take up to two months.
“We continue to pray for everyone affected by this natural disaster,” said Chris Perry, President and CEO of Kentucky Electric Cooperatives. “Our electric cooperative family is hurting. These crews represent Kentucky’s concern for our neighbors, and we pray for their safety and well-being as they face challenging conditions.”
In addition to supplying critical materials to co-ops rebuilding after Helene, Kentucky-based United Utility Supply Cooperative is donating more than 12,000 bottles of water to French Broad Electric Membership Corporation in North Carolina. The donation includes water that UUS had planned to provide to the Kentucky Lineman’s Rodeo.
The top priority of each local Kentucky co-op is service to its own consumer-members. Before committing resources to mutual aid requests, each co-op ensures it has ample crews available for all local needs, including routine maintenance and emergencies.
“Cooperation among cooperatives is one of our guiding principles,” said Randy Meredith, Director of Safety and Training at Kentucky Electric Cooperatives. “It’s long hours in challenging conditions, but this is what we do. Lineworkers are wired to help people, and mutual aid deployments also provide invaluable training opportunities so these crews will be better prepared to respond to storm damage when it happens here at home.”
“While Tropical Storm Helene brought her worst, the unity and helping spirit that we are seeing in western North Carolina represents our best,” said Nelle Hotchkiss, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives. “We are resilient, we are strong, and we are in this together.”
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Jason Todd, Kentucky Electric Cooperatives Boad Chairman, presented the 2024 Beautify the Bluegrass Governor’s Award to the Beattyville Welcome Sign project, a partnership of Jackson Energy Cooperative and community leaders.
For the eighth year in a row, the Governor’s office, Kentucky’s electric cooperatives and their flagship publication, Kentucky Living, partnered on the Beautify the Bluegrass initiative to recognize Kentuckians who complete homegrown projects to improve public spaces.
“When we say ‘Team Kentucky,’ this is what we’re talking about—Kentuckians who care about their communities and take action to help. Thank you to every Kentuckian and co-op who completed Beautify the Bluegrass projects this year,” said Governor Andy Beshear. “I want to say thank you for your cooperative spirit and your willingness to roll up your sleeves to improve Kentucky”
“Like the electric co-ops that belong to and are led by local Kentuckians, these projects are homegrown,” said Jason Todd, Kentucky Electric Cooperatives Board Chair at the announcement in the State Capitol Rotunda. “These efforts were not completed to win an award; they are the result of the people in this room taking it upon themselves to identify how they can make Kentucky a better and more attractive place to live.”
The program recognizes Kentuckians who take an active role in preserving the state’s natural beauty and helping their communities shine. Throughout the years, nominated projects have represented a wide variety of local needs, including rebuilding community assets impacted by natural disasters, breathing new life into downtowns, planting gardens, painting murals, repairing playgrounds, and removing litter from waterways and roads.
“We love the community we live, work and play in, and want to leave it a better place than we found it. Even though we don’t do it for awards and recognition, it’s such an honor to receive the Beautify the Governor’s Award for the second time,” said Lisa Baker of Jackson Energy, recipient of the 2024 Beautify the Bluegrass Governor’s Award. “The work we do for the people of Beattyville doesn’t go unnoticed—not by the consumer members in our region nor the state. Thank you to those who nominated us.”
The Welcome Sign on Beattyville Highway 11 in Lee County was renovated and revitalized by a team of 24 volunteers from Jackson Energy. The co-op funded the project in coordination with Beattyville community partners. Volunteers cleaned, repainted, installed solar lights, added flower planters and mounted new flags—all with locally sourced materials.
“I’m really pleased to see Kentuckians stepping up every year to help make Kentucky shine, and I’m especially proud of our co-ops who go above and beyond to serve their communities,” said Chris Perry, Kentucky Electric Cooperatives President and CEO. “Not only are these men and women working in all sorts of conditions every day to keep the lights on, but they are also giving back in unique ways. Our member co-ops really are proud to partner with the Governor’s office to highlight the individuals and groups who want to give back to our beautiful Commonwealth of Kentucky.”
In August, Kentucky Living and Governor Beshear announced the five 2024 Beautify the Bluegrass finalists. Kentucky Living readers voted online for their choice to receive the 2024 Governor’s Award. Other finalists included:
Big Rivers Electric & Kenergy, Landscaping for Habitat for Humanity Training Center (Daviess County)
Devan Horton, Works of Art That Bloom (Campbell County)
City of Danville’s Downtown Streetscape Project (Boyle County)
Friends of Red River Trah Cleanups (Wolfe County)
Any project completed between August 2024 and July 2025 is eligible for recognition for the 2025 Beautify the Bluegrass. Watch for the nomination form to go live in March 2025 on KentuckyLiving.com to coincide with the Kentucky Living article about the 2024 honorees.
