Chairman Parsons praises linemen, utilities for storm response; lists restoration figures

Chairman Parsons addressed the Georgia House on Jan. 15 to spotlight the work of utility crews and other emergency responders who restored power and cleared damage after recent storms and tornadoes.

Parsons lauded Georgia Power, electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) and municipal providers for large-scale restoration efforts. He attributed to Georgia Power more than 1.5 million customers affected, "over 83,100 broken poles," roughly 20,700 spans between poles needing replacement, and about 32,100 trees down, and he said 20,000 personnel and 35 assisting partners were involved in recovery operations. Parsons said EMCs faced 17–17.5 miles of damaged lines, about 12,500 poles to replace or repair, and estimated $535,000,000 in total damages.

Parsons described the work as dangerous and labor-intensive, citing his own experience working lines earlier in life and recounting a lineman’s injury to underline the hazards of the job. He praised not only utility workers but also volunteers, the Salvation Army, the National Guard, law enforcement, EMTs, churches and neighbors who assisted through the storms.

Why it matters: Parsons’s remarks frame utility and emergency personnel as critical to public safety and infrastructure resilience. The numeric restoration and damage estimates he provided were presented as counts and estimates from utilities; the transcript attributes those figures to Parsons’ remarks.

Recorded action: none — the remarks were a recognition/statement from a committee chair and did not include a motion or vote.