EEI President Tom Kuhn discussed the electric power industry's mutual assistance response to Hurrican Irene in a Wall Street Journal article about the industry's massive restoration efforts. 

"Between 30,000 and 50,000 utility line workers have been involved in the cleanup and power-restoration effort, including local utility crews," Kuhn told the newspaper.

Emergency utility repair crews from the Rockies eastward have helped the electric power industry restore power in the wake of Irene. Crews from around the country began arriving on the East Coast ahead of the storm to prepare for Irene's destruction - part of the utility industry's "mutual assistance" pact in which utilities from unaffected parts of the United States send linemen and contractors to help speed the restoration of power.

Access these resources to learn more:

• Wall Street Journal article discussing the industry's restoration efforts;
• U.S. Department of Energy blog about the industry's mutual assistance program in response to Irene; and
• Leaving Their Families Behind, Crews From As Far Away As California And Canada Spend Labor Day Working For Us (Madison [CT] Patch, 9/5/11).

Explore EEI's Web site to access these additional resources:

• Multimedia presentation of the utility crews in action;
• Advertisement thanking the utility emergency workers;
• Eastern Utilities Tap Virtually Every Resource Available East of the Rockies to Restore Power Following Irene; and
• Utilities, Assistance Workers Racing Toward Power Restoration in Wake of Irene's Wrath.