BrightRidge completes Taylor Bridge crossing a day ahead of schedule; wifi available at South Central Elementary

JOHNSON CITY – BrightRidge and Pike Electric completed the third crossing of the Nolichucky River at Taylor Bridge on Friday night, restoring 120 remaining outages on the electric system a day ahead of schedule.

“All the homes in the area that can accept power are now energized,” BrightRidge CEO Jeff Dykes said. “Thanks to the dedication of our BrightRidge folks, Pike Electric and Kendall, we have accomplished a lot in the past seven days. For our region, we know it’s just a start.”

Dykes applauded the tremendous effort of area water departments, highway departments, officials and private citizens as services have begun to come online south of the Nolichucky in just seven days since Hurricane Helene triggered a massive flood event across the region and the Southeast.

“This was a full company effort with all our employees and our contractors working together with local and state employees,” Dykes said. “There is some cleanup to do, and we are looking at some other river crossings moving forward. Design work is underway, so we can build more flexibility into the grid south of the river going forward.”

Lamar and South Central residents in need of internet access to file online for FEMA disaster assistance will be able to access wi-fi in the South Central Elementary School parking lot beginning Saturday. South Central has a wifi system in place under a Covid-era grant project by BrightRidge.

“We should have that operational sometime Saturday,” Dykes said. “In speaking with (School Superintendent) Jerry Boyd, they are working to make the library available for people to come out on Monday and use the computers in the library to fill out their paperwork.”