Currents-October 2023

OCTOBER 2023

Suwannee Valley

CURRENTS

INSIDE: ALL HANDS ON DECK Thousands of workers help SVEC restore power after Hurricane Idalia.

INLAND ADVENTURES Discover the charms of Manatee County farms.

RAPID INTERNET IS HERE Find out if high-speed internet is available in your neighborhood.

CEO’S MESSAGE

Suwannee Valley

CURRENTS October 2023

Michael S. McWaters Executive VP/CEO

The power of community At Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative, we pride ourselves on smart planning. We invest in our system to make sure it remains strong in the future. We consider every expenditure carefully and keep the costs to our consumer-members in mind. When hurricane season comes around, we review our Emergency Restoration Plan to make sure we’re ready.

In August, when Hurricane Idalia made landfall, we relied on every bit of that planning to carry us through the recovery. In the following days, as our crews began to clear fallen debris and assess the damage to our system, it became clear our cooperative had not experienced anything like this in its nearly 90-year history.

The damage to our system was severe and widespread. About 99% of the homes and businesses we serve were without power. To restore power to those consumer-members, crews had to replace over 1,000 poles and thousands of pieces of equipment such as transformers, insulators and fuses.

But our team wasn’t daunted by the task. Because we have worked hard to build a robust Emergency Restoration Plan, everyone at SVEC was ready to spring into action whether they were in the field clearing the way and making repairs or supporting those who were.

And there were a lot of people to support. At the height of our restoration,

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SVEC had more than 2,000 workers from our own and other cooperatives, contractors, and municipal utilities teaming up to cut trees, clear debris, make repairs and more. To keep those crews fed and rested, we built what amounted to a small city at our Live Oak headquarters, complete with dining tents, bunk trailers, a laundry, bathrooms and more.

In this newsletter, you can read more about this restoration effort and how SVEC conducted it. You can also find photos of these teams at work to get a better idea of what it was like for our crews on the ground.

I’ve talked before in this column about how fortunate we are to be part of a family of cooperatives who step up to help each other in times of need. After this storm, I can extend that sentiment to the industry as a whole which is made up of cooperatives, municipal and investor-owned utilities. and electrical contractors, All of us are ready and able to work together for the people of our communities.

I’d also like to thank you, our consumer-members, for your patience during a trying couple of weeks. It’s never easy to be without electricity for any amount of time. But throughout the restoration process our employees and visiting crews felt the support of this wonderful community. It’s just one of the reasons we’re proud to serve you. 

Suwannee Valley Currents is a monthly newsletter published by Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative, © 2023. It is distributed without charge to all consumermembers of the cooperative.

WE BELONG TO THOSE WE SERVE Business Office: 800-447-4509 11340 100th St. Live Oak, FL 32060 Lobby Hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday Drive-thru Kiosk Open 24 Hours 24/7 Power Outage Reporting 800-752-0025

IS HERE! The first of SVEC’s consumer-members can now sign up for high-speed internet service from the co-op’s subsidary, Rapid Fiber Internet.

Service is now available for consumer-members who are located in construction Zone 1 of the broadband network. Zone 1 corresponds to the path of SVEC's Scott 1 (SCO-1) electric feeder line. You can find your feeder at the top left corner of your SVEC bill right under your account number. You can also use your address to search for your Zone and feeder by visiting the Project Info page at rapid-fiber.com.

All fiber internet packages offer the same blazing performance for uploads as well as downloads, so you have the smoothest experience possible whether streaming movies or video conferencing:

100 Mbps for $50 per month 1 Gig for $80 per month 2 Gigs for $100 per month

svec-coop.com facebook.com/sveccoop @SVEC_COOP_FL Instagram.com/sveccoop SVEC is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

On the cover:

Don’t miss the FREE Touch-A-Truck family event hosted by Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative.

Children and adults of all ages are invited to touch and explore various trucks, emergency vehicles and heavy machinery at SVEC’s office, 11340 100th St. in Live Oak, on Nov. 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Vehicle drivers and operators will be there to show you their vehicles and answer any questions.

• Free admission • Bounce houses and other activities for kids • Food trucks with food and drinks available for purchase Have a unique vehicle and want to participate? Email Christy Tuckey at communications@svec-coop.com. 

SVEC crews receive backup from hundreds of crews from other utilities as they clear debris and make repairs after Hurricane Idalia.

See story Page 4.

Suwannee Valley Currents

Suwannee Valley Currents

OCTOBER 2023 | 3

Day by day On Aug. 27, three days before Hurricane Idalia made landfall, Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative was already preparing for the storm. The cooperative’s leaders activated the Emergency Restoration Plan at 4 o’clock that afternoon, monitoring reports from weather services, readying employees to work long hours and arranging for additional help from contractors and Florida’s statewide electric cooperative association.

But it’s impossible to predict all that will be needed in

the aftermath of an unprecedented event like this hurricane was to our area. By the time the rain stopped and the winds died down, SVEC’s system had sustained more damage than at any other time in the cooperative’s history. Repairs would take an equally unprecedented workforce and a small army to support it. Here’s a day-by-day account of how SVEC restored power to the 99% of its consumer-members who lost power because of the storm.

How SVEC powered up after Hurricane Idalia

Power city

A lineman makes repairs from a bucket truck.

Idalia broke more than 1,000 poles on SVEC's system.

Hurricane Idalia sweeps through Florida, leaving almost all of SVEC’s 28,500 consumermembers without power. At 1 p.m., immediately after the storm passes, the cooperative begins assessing damage to its system, working with emergency management, sheriff’s offices and local road departments to remove trees and clear power lines obstructing roadways.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 30

After a full day in the field, workers eat a meal at SVEC's storm base camp.

Power has been restored to providers of critical services such as nursing homes, assisted living facilities and the Live Oak Publix, Lowes and Walmart stores.

Power has also been restored to all 13 of SVEC's substations and

THURSDAY, AUG. 31

SATURDAY, SEPT. 2

about 47% of the co-op's consumer-members.

Over 1,000 people continue working to get everyone’s lights back on, and the extent of the damage to SVEC’s system has become clearer.

Crews have logged over 4,500 instances of damaged poles, lines and other equipment.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 5

At first light, 176 SVEC employees and contractors begin restoring power.

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Damage to FPL and Duke Energy transmission lines feeding 10 of SVEC’s 13 substations adds to the challenge of restoring power.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 8

Crews have restored power to more than 20,500 of the cooperative’s consumer-members.

SVEC crews receive reinforcements as they clear debris and make repairs to main feeder lines. 100 more lineworkers arrive to help from electric cooperatives based in Alabama and other parts of Florida.

Crews deploy digger derricks to replace damaged power poles.

SVEC has restored electric service to 99% of its consumermembers. Many of the remaining small isolated outages must wait until repairs have been made to a home’s electrical equipment. Crews continue working into the night and weekend to reconnect everyone who can safely receive power.

To support the thousands of people making repairs to SVEC’s system after Hurricane Idalia, the cooperative enlisted the help of Storm Services, a Georgia logistical services company, to establish a base camp at its Live Oak headquarters.

What resembled a small city operated day and night, providing food, showers, clean clothes and beds for more than 800 workers each day.

The complex included two large dining tents that offered hot breakfast and dinner, along with to-go boxed lunches for crews heading to work. There were also numerous sleeping trailers, that contained 30 to 36 bunks each, where crew members could recharge between jobs.

SVEC has contracted with Storm Services in preparation for prior storm seasons, but this is the first time the cooperative required the company’s assistance.

SVEC CEO Mike McWaters says the efficient operation was a testament to SVEC’s ability to learn from other natural disasters and put its Emergency Restoration Plan into action. 

The total workforce has grown to over 2,000 lineworkers, vegetation clearers and support staff, laboring night and day to restore power.

SVEC has multiple staging sites across the system to more efficiently support the work.

Pike Electric contractors prepare a new power pole for installation.

Suwannee Valley Currents

Suwannee Valley Currents

SVEC’s Live Oak headquarters is transformed into a complex of tents and trailers to support recovery workers.

OCTOBER 2023 | 5

The charms of the farms in Manatee County

Pork Loin with Apple Stuffing PORK LOIN

BY VISIT FLORIDA

Place pork loin in slow cooker. Fill with apple cider until about 2/3 of loin is covered. Brush top of pork loin with honey. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or until done. Cool in refrigerator, then slice into 1-inch thick pieces.

Imagine what it’s like to drink milk fresh from a cow, taste sweet honey from local bees, sip wine where the grapes were grown and sink your teeth into a just-picked peach or an ear of corn so juicy and tender that it’s delicious even raw.

STUFFING

In a large mixing bowl, crumble bread crumbs or cornbread into fine pieces. Pour 1 stick of melted butter onto crumbled bread. Add 1 tablespoon of sage, a pinch of seasoned salt and 1 teaspoon of onion powder. Mix until well blended. Add thinly sliced apples to the mixture.

DIRECTIONS

Lay slices of pork loin onto a large glass or metal baking dish, along with 1 cup of apple cider. Put a spoonful of stuffing mixture in the center of each slice of pork loin and bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees F or until stuffing starts to brown.  NOTE: Buy a pork loin that fits in your slow cooker, or you can cut to fit and freeze the remainder.

Learn from farmers how cheese is made and from vintners how grapes are processed. Meet magnificent horses and bears. You can do it all here, at Manatee County farms. With even more agricultural attractions than beautiful beaches, our county overflows with country charm. Simply head inland. Here are some great places in Manatee County to visit:

INGREDIENTS Pork loin (see note) Apple cider Honey Stale bread crumbs or cornbread

Seasoned salt 1 stick butter, melted 1 tablespoon ground sage 1 teaspoon onion powder 3 apples, thinly sliced

Dear dairy

Holy cow! A visit to Dakin Dairy Farm is not only fun, it's good for you. Learn about the health benefits of milk, visit the farm market every Saturday, take a cow train or hay ride and pet fuzzy farm animals.

One simple way to save money while keeping your home more comfortable during the hottest and coldest months of the year is by weatherizing.

bright ideas

To better understand how your home uses energy, start by doing a home energy audit. Just visit the Save Energy at Home page on our website to find one you can do yourself.

After you have your results, use them to create an efficiency strategy built specifically for your home.

Suggestions might include air sealing and insulation, upgrades to ventilation, moisture management, and others. 

When you save energy, you save money. Check back here each month for new ways to make your home or business more energy-efficient.

To learn more about how to save energy, click on the Energy Efficiency tab on the SVEC website, svec-coop.com.

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facebook.com/sveccoop instagram.com/sveccoop twitter.com/SVEC_COOP Suwannee Valley Currents

Grape expectations

Manatee County boasts not one but two world-class wineries. Bunker Hill Winery is environmentally friendly and offers complimentary tours and tastings of its handcrafted wines. Bunker Hill grows its own muscadine grapes, rents out a peaceful cottage on property and is even purported to have a resident ghost!

Rosa Fiorelli Winery has a 10-acre muscadine vineyard, and its wines have won more than 100 awards. Tours include your choice of an authentic Italian lunch and wine in a complimentary souvenir glass to take home. Free tastings are also available.

Suwannee Valley Currents

Bear it all

Catch the Bear Show at Bearadise Ranch. These talented creatures are featured in movies, commercials and festivals. Trained with respect and affection, the animals are encouraged to express their lovable personalities. Johnny Welde founded the ranch to conserve and preserve all bear species.

Following a summer tour, the bears resume local shows in October.

Fresh is best

The kids will get a kick out of King Farm Myakka, with its sheep, horses and cows roaming around and monthly events in season. Blueberries are yours for the picking, and a large open-air market presents a wonderful array of fresh produce. King Farm is open from mid-October through mid-June. When planning your trip to any Manatee County farm, check its operational schedule.

Horsing around

Seize the opportunity to witness the beauty and grace of The Original Lipizzan Stallions of Austria at Herrmann’s Lipizzan Stallion Farm. Shows resume this December, but you can visit year-round on Saturdays.

Once you’ve experienced our great agricultural outdoors, take the family indoors to The Manatee County Agricultural Museum. Located in Palmetto, it features five rooms of exhibits, special programs, tours and a terrific array of children’s activities, including storybooks about farming, vegetable puzzles, mazes and citrus tick-tack-toe for hands-on learning.  OCTOBER 2023 | 7

Around the clock

SVEC crews, linemen from other co-ops, contractors and municipal utilities worked at all hours of the day and night to restore power to over 28,000 consumer-members who were without power after Hurricane Idalia made landfall on Aug. 30.

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Suwannee Valley Currents