CHELCO making significant progress in restoring power following Hurricane Isaias

DeFuniak Springs, FL (Oct. 13, 2026) — Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative, Inc. (CHELCO) has made significant progress restoring power to members affected by Hurricane Isaias, with most remaining outages expected to be restored by Tuesday night.

As of noon on Tuesday, Oct. 13, CHELCO had restored power to nearly 68,000 of the more than 71,000 members affected by hurricane-related outages. The cooperative anticipates restoring power to most of the approximately 3,800 remaining affected members by the end of the day Tuesday.

The restoration effort has been supported by approximately 1,400 personnel, including 1,000 linemen and 400 support personnel. The workforce includes CHELCO employees, mutual aid crews, and contractors working together to restore service as quickly and safely as possible.

“Crews are still out in the field and will continue working around the clock,” said CHELCO CEO Steve Rhodes. “We expect to restore power to nearly all members whose service is capable of being safely restored by Tuesday night. Given the progress we’ve made so far, we anticipate making excellent progress today as well.”

CHELCO is a not-for-profit electric cooperative serving more than 76,000 accounts in Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes and Santa Rosa counties, including Eglin Air Force Base.