In early September, Hurricane Irma made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane and caused massive damage to Florida's west coast, center, and east coast before moving on to Georgia and South Carolina. On Monday, September 11th, Florida reported that 6.5 million customers were without power, and that number went down to 5.5 million by Tuesday morning. So on September 12th, a Greenville Utilities team of 54 hit the road to Florida at the request of Lakeland Electric, one of the hardest hit public utilities in Florida. The team consisted of 38 GUC electric employees, along with Xylem Tree Service, River City Construction, and City of Kinston employees.

"We were very fortunate to have been spared the devastation of this storm," said Tony Cannon, General Manager/CEO. "This was a great opportunity for public power to help public power. It's what we do - help each other out. GUC has been up and down the east coast over the years, helping others who need us, because we know they are there for us when we need help."

As a publicly-owned utility, GUC is part of a network of other municipal systems that have mutual aid agreements designed to offer assistance during urgent situations such as these. A few years ago, 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 know it's not if we'll need somebody to help us but when we'll need the help," said Jeff Byrd, Electric Distribution Engineer. "If you are going to be a taker, you need to be a giver, and we have the expertise to give assistance."

We are proud of the following employees who traveled south to assist with recovery efforts: Ken Wade, Jeff Byrd, Jeff Oakley, Jason Hardee, Wayne Hardee, Mike Ashley, Keith Stancil, Joey Dash, Billy Owens, Daniel Dilda, Keith Gaskins, Earl Harris, Zach Kruger, Brandon Butler, Mark Howery, Brian Baker, Mark Andrews, Lin Bunting, Mono Jones, Remington Gaskins, Nick Gibson, Seven Leggett, Robbie Mooring, Spencer Corey, Simon Stroud, Louis Wallace, Casey Jones, Ryan Van Scoy, Jason Gaskins, Kevin Jones, David Bunch, Bradley Hardee, Brantley Lawrence, Chris Hudson, Timmy Pollard, Steven Briley, Lee Ausbon, and Bobby Adams.

"We also want to thank employees who stayed here to continue GUC's daily operations," said Tony Cannon, General Manager/CEO. "Our crews would not have been able to assist in this recovery effort if we didn't know that our own customers would be taken care of here at home."

Sending crews to other communities really is a collaborative effort for those who go, and those who stay behind. And customers who get their power restored faster because of the extra help are always willing to share their gratitude with the crews and with us back home. You can visit the electronic Spotlight Newsfeed at Spotlight.guc.com to read all of the kind words and emails sent in by Lakeland residents, as well as photos of our crews lending a hand.