VEC Restored More Than 3,000 Outages In Cumberland County

Volunteer Energy completed the full restoration of its power system Sunday after strong Friday winds left more than 15,000 accounts without electricity.

Marketing and Economic Development Vice-President David Murphy said over 200 crews worked countless hours over the weekend in order to restore service.

“We were spread thin just because of the depth of damage that occurred,” Murphy said. “It was very widespread. We ultimately ended up reaching out for some mutual aid from our brethren from other electric cooperatives inside and outside of Tennessee.”

Murphy said Cumberland County experienced more than 3,000 outages. Putnam and Fentress Counties had a few hundred without power. Murphy said the cooperative had to utilize contractors from Michigan in order to keep up with the restoration efforts.

Murphy said the main issue was the duration of the high winds. Murphy said crews constantly received new reports of downed trees damaging power lines for several hours Friday.

Overall, the service areas in the Cumberland Plateau were less impacted compared to counties in the valley such as Bradley and Rhea.