Lights across Gilmer County went dark, schools closed early and people’s workday halted when a downed transmission line knocked out power for thousands of people.
The blackout happened Tuesday, April 15, around 9:45 a.m., because of a downed Georgia Power transmission line near the Carters Lake dam in Murray County. More than 27,000 people across the region were without power, including Amicalola EMC and Georgia Power customers.
Georgia Power could not provide many details at this time, but released a statement reading, “an equipment issue caused a widespread power outage. We recognize how challenging an outage can be, that’s why our crews work to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.”
Amicalola EMC reported 13,000 customers were without power across the northern part of its service area. More than 11,000 of those were in Gilmer County. Pickens County was also heavily impacted.
This outage troubled some people, who asked why backup solutions were not in place to keep power on for customers. Kadie Shaw, public relations coordinator at Amicalola EMC, said they were able to back feed within their system to restore a significant number of outages while the transmission line was being repaired.
“However, back feeding during a widespread outage, like the one we experienced [last] Tuesday, must be done in moderation for safety and load management purposes,” she added.
The widespread outage lasted a little more than two hours. Georgia Transmission worked to repair the line and service was restored for customers around noon. That’s the same time Gilmer County Schools decided to release students early.
“Buses will be released at noon with car riders beginning immediately afterward,” the district alerted parents. “We apologize for any inconvenience.” Students were provided lunch before heading home.
GCSS had previously reported that schools went on backup power during the outage, but if the issue persisted, they would not be able to operate normally. Generators in each school can provide emergency power, but their capacity is limited and can only support essential functions.
“Without full power, our ability to communicate, instruct, feed students and manage our operations is significantly impacted,” GCSS Superintendent Dr. Brian Ridley said. “In the absence of sufficient information as to when power would be restored, we made the decision to send students home.”
Schools returned to normal hours the following day. Power has since been restored for all customers.