Hundreds of residents on Hilton Head Island are without power as Palmetto Electric Cooperative works to restore service on the South Carolina island. The outage affects hundreds of members served by PEC, which operates across Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton, and Allendale counties.
Palmetto Electric Cooperative services nearly 75,000 customers across its service area. The cooperative has not yet disclosed the cause of the current outage, though crews are actively working to restore power to affected residents.
Hilton Head Island has a history of significant power disruptions. In March 2023, a fire at a power substation in Bluffton caused a massive outage affecting more than 60,000 homes and businesses across the Lowcountry, including Hilton Head Island and parts of Beaufort County. That incident started around 5 a.m. and lasted about 20 minutes before crews redirected power through alternative transmission lines, according to Tray Hunter, vice president of marketing for Palmetto Electric. Hunter explained that utilities can switch power between multiple transmission lines serving a substation, similar to redirecting an extension cord to a different outlet. After initial restoration efforts, about 5,500 customers remained without power until Santee Cooper, which operates the transmission grid, brought the damaged substation back online.
Smaller outages have also affected the island in recent years. In August 2024, approximately 408 Palmetto Electric members on Hilton Head experienced a power outage, according to WSAV reporting. Causes of outages on the island have ranged from equipment failures to weather-related incidents.
South Carolina has invested in grid resilience improvements to reduce outage frequency and duration. Santee Cooper, the state’s public utility, established the South Carolina Grid Resilience Grant Program with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In 2025, the program awarded $6.9 million in grants to strengthen the electric grid against natural hazards and infrastructure failures, according to Renewable Energy World. Additionally, Palmetto Electric has completed an underground conversion project on Hilton Head Island, moving all overhead electrical lines underground to reduce weather-related outages.
Residents experiencing outages can report them to Palmetto Electric Cooperative by calling 1-866-445-5551 or through the company’s MyEnergy Online portal. The cooperative recommends that customers turn off electrical equipment during an outage to prevent damage from power surges when service is restored.
Sources
- WSAV — Report of 408 Palmetto Electric members without power on Hilton Head Island in August 2024
- WTOC — Coverage of March 2023 outage affecting 60,000+ customers due to equipment failure at Bluffton substation
- Palmetto Electric Cooperative — Service area information and outage reporting procedures
- Renewable Energy World — Information on South Carolina Grid Resilience Grant Program and $6.9 million in 2025 awards
- Palmetto Electric Cooperative — Completion of underground electrical line conversion on Hilton Head Island
