Peace River Electric Cooperative joins Sandy relief effort in Pennsylvania

   Peace River Electric Cooperative workers are expected to arrive in Pennsylvania today to assist with recovery from the devastation of Sandy.Shown, left to right, Tyler Wise, Danny Turner, Ryan Lassiter, Tyler Hoopingarner, Danny Congleton Jonathan Benbow and Ramiro Narciso.

Peace River Electric Cooperative, which serves much of East Manatee, as well as many other counties in south Florida, is sending a crew to Pennsylvania to help with recovery from the unprecedented storm Sandy.

 The co-op is sending a line foreman, six line technicians and four service trucks.

"The team will arrive today and immediately begin helping the crews of Citizens’ Electric, located in Lewisburg, repair damage to power lines caused by unprecedented storm Sandy," according to a press release.

 As Sandy began moving into the Lewisburg area on Tuesday, the number of Citizens’ Electric consumers without power climbed rapidly as high winds caused tree-related outages.

Citizens is was advising consumers to expect outages to last for an extended period.

 “We know first-hand the importance of mutual assistance crews following a weather disaster, and we welcome the opportunity to help restore power as safely and quickly as possible for another utility," Nell McCauley, co-op spokeswoman, said.