Blue Ridge Mountain EMC, GA
Blue Ridge Mountain EMC's outage record
8.6 hours without power across 3.7 outages last year - Blue Ridge Mountain EMC's Georgia customers are well past the typical US utility's outage time. That is 92% more outage time than the Georgia state average of 4.5 hours a year.
Outage length, and what it means for a generator
2.3 hours is the average length of a single outage here - past comfortable battery range, which is where a portable generator becomes the better buy. More on that split in how often versus how long an outage runs.
Do Blue Ridge Mountain EMC customers need a generator
Serving 39,161 customers here, This is not a borderline case - Blue Ridge Mountain EMC's outage record alone is reason enough to get a backup generator before the next one hits.
Where this number comes from
These figures come from EIA Form 861, the reliability report a member-owned cooperative like Blue Ridge Mountain EMC files with federal regulators every year - serving 39,161 customers hereaveraged across the whole territory, not any one address or storm. Every other utility in Georgia is covered too: see Georgia's full record. One big storm can move a single year a lot; major event days explains how.