Grady Electric Membership Corporation

A MEMBER OWNED ENERGY PROVIDER

GRADY EMC HOSTS EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS MEETING

On June 24, 2008, Decatur, Grady, and Thomas County Emergency service personnel, along with Grady EMC personnel met at Grady EMC's headquarters in Cairo. Attending the meeting were Chris Jones, Thomas County Fire Coordinator and Emergency Management Director, Lisa Griffis and Ann Powell, Thomas County E911 Director and Whitney Hopkins, dispatch. Tonya Griffin, Decatur/Grady E911 Director. Grady EMC's Rex Robinson, Jeffery Rehberg, Wayne Windham, Pat Reed and Donnie Prince.

The meeting was a productive meeting and built onto the 2007 meeting in which vital issues of clear, concise, accurate forms of communication were needed. All entities were thankful for one another's assistance in times of disaster/emergency response situations. Grady EMC agreed to provide further information to the county emergency dispatch centers that would reduce response time for those personnel needing assistance.  This will also allow the centers to determine which utility company to call in case of emergencies. Training and safety matters were discussed as well. The purpose of this meeting was to review existing emergency procedures and to determine what enhancements could be added for the upcoming storm season.

Procedures already in place were discussed to see if there were areas that could be improved upon.   Utilization of the internet as a form of non-verbal communications between Grady EMC and the E911 Emergency Operations Centers were re-emphasized as a valuable tool.   This will provide accurate, detailed information between the entities.  It will reduce the amount of voice traffic which becomes extremely hectic during mass outages, etc. 

We are fortunate to live in communities where there are dedicated individuals that are willing to communicate and cooperate one with another to achieve a common goal for the good of its people.  We would like to take this time to thank all the individuals representing their communities and organizations for their help and assistance at this meeting.  The photo shows several of the representatives who attended the meeting.  

We trust that the membership of Grady Electric Membership Corporation will understand that we are continually striving to reduce outage times as a result of outages brought on by whatever reason.  Your increased understanding and cooperation has helped immensely in past emergencies as a result of tornadoes, hurricanes, severe thunderstorms, etc.  We remind all of us as members of Grady EMC to continue to utilize the automated outage reporting system as you have been doing and becoming more familiar with.  The Grady EMC Newsletter being mailed in June, 2008 contains valuable information for getting your power restored as quickly as possible.  Please use the new outage phone numbers.  They are 1-877-757-6060 or 229-377-6060. 

It is noteworthy that Grady EMC’s automated outage reporting system has more incoming phone lines now than the individual E911 centers have.  We have implemented this in order to respond to your needs more quickly.

This has provided a much quicker response time to your outages and provides you with acknowledgment that we are aware of your power outages and eliminates the need for repetitive call backs to see if an outage has been reported.  The key for this system to work efficiently for us as members is to either know your account number or meter serial number for the specific service you are calling in to report.  Once this correct information is entered into the automated phone outage reporting system, you can proceed through the prompts and input the data required.  The system will ask you if you would like an automated callback to verify power is restored.  Please use this feature. 

It is highly recommended that verification of phone numbers and 911 addresses are correct for your accounts.  This information is critical in order for us to respond to your call for help as quickly as possible. If you need to verify this, please contact your customer services department at 229-377-4182.  Having this information posted in a conspicuous place close to your phone or on your person should be beneficial to us all whenever outages occur. 

As mentioned earlier, usage of this automated outage reporting system is increasing; therefore, reducing frustration as a result of mass outages.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article.  If you have any questions, please call your cooperative at        229-377-4182.  Our website is www.gradyemc.com