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Covington County approves partnership with Power South to seek FEMA funds for transmission-line hardening
Summary
The Covington County Commission voted July 14 to partner with Power South on a FEMA hazard-mitigation grant to replace about 50 miles of aging transmission line; Power South estimated a $22.5 million project with roughly 75% covered by FEMA and 25% by Power South, and administrative costs covered at 100%.
The Covington County Commission voted July 14 to enter a public–private partnership with Power South to pursue a FEMA hazard-mitigation grant to harden a transmission line that serves much of the county.
Power South representatives told the commission the project would replace aging wooden transmission structures with concrete, hardened poles to improve storm resilience. "We're looking at roughly 50 miles of transmission lines" and "around 650 structures," Power South engineer Russ Harper said, describing wooden poles from the 1950s being replaced with more durable concrete structures. Corey Ellis, representing Power South, told the commission the project cost is "estimated 22 and a half million dollars" and that "75%...would be funded by FEMA and 25% funded and burdened by Power South." He also said FEMA would cover "100% of the administrative costs" for both Power South and the county.
Why it matters: commissioners were told the line serves critical facilities — including hospitals and nursing homes — and that hardening work is intended to reduce outages after severe storms. Harper cited Hurricane Michael as an example where concrete construction withstood damage that felled many wooden poles.
The county must be the applicant for this grant because utilities such as Power South cannot apply directly, Ellis said; the state application that would go on to FEMA is due July 23. The commission voted to approve the partnership and to allow Power South to route grant funds through the county if the application is successful. The motion was made and seconded during the meeting and the chair called for the ayes; the verbal vote in open session was recorded as in favor with no oppositions voiced.
Next steps: Power South will work with county staff on the state application due July 23 and said it will pursue the full application process; the county was told the award is not guaranteed and FEMA makes final funding decisions.
(Reporting note: the transcript used varying spellings for the county and for some names; this article uses the official county name "Covington County." )
