Home >

GUC Crews Return From Northeast
November 18, 2011

In late October, New England experienced an unusually early winter storm. Because the trees were still full of leaves, the heavy, wet snow caused massive power outages.  In response to a call for help, a team of 32 GUC employees loaded up 17 trucks on October 31 and began a 15-hour drive to their first stop in Westfield, Massachusetts.

Westfield Gas and Electric (WG&E) reported that they experienced the largest loss of electric load in its history, resulting in 90% of customers without power at the peak of the storm on October 29. “Approximately 70% of their customers were still without power when we arrived on November 1,” said Jeff Byrd, Electric Distribution Engineer.

GUC crews worked closely with WG&E Electric Station Operator Phil Carbone, who acted as a guide for them during the recovery. “Phil was a big help to us,” said GUC Overhead Construction Supervisor Wayne Hardee. “In fact, he spent so much time with us that he started picking up our Southern accent.”

“Your guys are the best, and I’d work with them again anytime,” Phil said. “They were friendly and efficient, and I’d say they were the fastest out of all the recovery crews that came to help.”

Our crews assisted the communities of Westfield, Chicopee and South Hadley, Massachusetts November 1-6, and then headed to Hartford, Connecticut to help with Connecticut Light and Power outages. They arrived safely back in Greenville on November 11 after working a total of 172 hours in New England.

As a publicly-owned utility, GUC is part of a network of other municipal systems that have mutual aid agreements designed to offer a helping hand during urgent situations such as these. Just recently, following Hurricane Irene, Greenville Utilities was on the receiving end of this assistance when crews from Huntsville, Alabama and Fayetteville traveled to assist us.

“We frequently provide this kind of assistance,” said Roger Jones, Director of Electric Systems. “It gives us the chance to help another community, and also is a great training opportunity for our crews that pays off back home.”

GUC also provided assistance this year to the City of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in May after tornadoes caused massive outages, as well as to our neighbors in Wilson after the April 16 tornadoes.

Click here for some photos of GUC employees in action in Massachusetts.