TUCKER, Ga., Feb. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- As of 9:00 p.m. today, Georgia's electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) are reporting approximately 40,200 customers without power as a result of snow and sleet blanketing much of north and central Georgia. Since the storm began, power has been restored to more than 248,500 customers. 

More than 291 additional crews from unaffected areas in Georgia and from at least seven other states, including Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Florida and Kentucky are helping EMCs restore power.

Customers should report power outages by contacting their local EMC and stay away from downed lines and report them immediately to their local utility or call 911.

Georgia EMC is the statewide trade association representing the state's 41 EMCs, Oglethorpe Power Corp., Georgia Transmission Corp. and Georgia System Operations Corp.  Collectively, Georgia's customer-owned EMCs provide electricity and related services to more than four million people, half of Georgia's population, across 73 percent of the state's land area.

Georgia Transmission, a not-for-profit cooperative owned by 38 EMCs, owns more than 3000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and more than 600 substations. These facilities deliver power to Georgia's EMCs who serve nearly 50 percent of Georgia's population (4.5 million).

SOURCE Georgia EMC