EPB CEO David Wade said the Easter night storm was the most destructive in the utility's history - even surpassing the $25 million 2011 tornadoes that claimed more lives.
He told EPB board members during an electronic meeting on Friday morning that the main force of the $28 million storm hit a very densely populated section of East Brainerd, including a long strip of Jenkins Road where EPB had much of its power and fiber infrastructure.
He stated, "Lines were knocked out for miles. We might find one pole out of 20." And he said many pole locations were covered in debris that first had to be removed.
Mr. Wade said after the storm there are about 450 structures that were too badly damaged for restoration of electric services.
He said EPB brought in 1,100 line workers to deal with the storm's aftermath. It typically has 70 line workers on hand.
The army of workers was fed 55,000 meals and 54,000 pounds of laundry was washed. There were 13,000 hotel nights provided.
The storm took out 812 poles, 709 transformers and 125 miles of wire.
Mr. Wade said the electrical system had to first be rebuilt before the fiber system could be put back together. There are 400 workers engaged in the fiber project, which is expected to take about a week. He said it initially took about three months to build out that fiber system in the affected area.
The CEO said the Smart Grid was not a factor in power restoration in East Brainerd because the main components of the system were wiped out. However, elsewhere over the system, he said it kept power on for 44,000 customers.
Greg Eaves, chief financial officer, said March was such a mild weather month that power receipts were down by $4 million. However, he said power demand was so low that the utility ended up making $1 million for the month.
The board approved a new $50 million line of credit with Truist Bank (formerly SunTrust). Mr. Eaves said EPB has had a line of credit for many years and has never had to draw on it. He said it remains to be seen if it will need to be used to pay costs of the recent storm. He said most of the bills have not yet arrived.