News > Two Linemen, Two Weeks, Two States, Two Hurricanes

Two Linemen, Two Weeks, Two States, Two Hurricanes

November 15, 2024

Stearns Electric’s Response to Hurricane Relief Request

The mutual aid call came in around 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 1. At 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 2, two Stearns Electric linemen were on their way to Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative in Pickens, South Carolina to help with restoration efforts following Hurricane Helene. 

Stearns Electric linemen Jacob “Mittens” Ronning and Luke Gilbertson were joined by four linemen from Meeker Cooperative Power. The six-man crew spent the next two weeks restoring power to electric cooperative members in South Carolina and Florida following Hurricanes Helene and Milton. 

“By the time we got to South Carolina about a week after Hurricane Helene had come through, a lot of the clean-up had already happened,” Ronning said. “There was a lot of damage, but the area where we were was located in the foothills of the mountains and didn’t get hit as hard as North Carolina. Many of the trees and branches were already cleared off of the power lines for us.”

They spent five days in South Carolina replacing broken power poles and hanging new wire. 

“Immediately following Hurricane Helene, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative had 65,000 of their 75,000 members out of power. By the time we got there, there were 20,000 to 30,000 still out,” Gilbertson said. “We pretty much worked 16- or 18-hour days everyday building or rebuilding lines.” 

The group was released from Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative and set to travel home to Minnesota. They made it about two hours toward home when another mutual aid call came in from the Florida Electric Cooperative Association. 

“We got the call, turned around and headed to the staging area set up in Jacksonville, Florida. Once the second hurricane went through, we headed to Peace River Electric Cooperative in Wauchula, Florida,” Ronning recalled. 

The crew spent three more days working in Florida before making the long trek back to the Midwest. Stearns Electric welcomed them home on Tuesday, October 15 with a police escort provided by the Melrose Police Department. 

Though they both enjoyed working hard, helping others and seeing new areas of the country, they were glad to be home. 

“Having my own bed to sleep in again was the best part of coming home,” Gilbertson said. 

“I was grateful for my bed, less humidity and not having to worry about snakes, spiders and alligators,” Ronning added. 

“As an electric cooperative, we follow the seven cooperative principles. One of those is ‘Cooperation Among Cooperatives.’ Many times, this principle is exemplified through mutual aid efforts where we assist neighboring cooperatives in restoring power to their members following either ice or summer storms,” Matt O’Shea, CEO of Stearns Electric Association, said. “Every once in a while, we get a mutual aid call from another state, as was the case this October, and we are happy to answer those calls whenever we are able.” 

Before Stearns Electric commits to sending any crews to assist in mutual aid efforts, the Cooperative considers the immediate needs of Stearns Electric’s distribution system and workload. Additionally, mutual aid efforts are reimbursed completely, including labor and equipment. 

“We are proud to provide support and assistance to other co-op members across the country,” O’Shea concluded. “Thank you to Mittens and Luke for representing Stearns Electric in the South, and thank you to all employees who helped step up to coordinate this effort and maintain daily operations while they were away.”