In late 2022, a vandal with a rifle fired dozens of shots into two Duke Energy transmission substations, damaging transformers and other equipment and crippling electric service to nearly 40,000 meters in Moore County, North Carolina, including 3,000 members of Randolph EMC.

During the multiday ordeal, co-op leaders had to deliver news no one wants to hear, especially in the middle of a bitter cold spell: Restoring power would take much longer than the original 24-hour projection, because the damage was more severe than first thought.

“If a storm comes through, we're completely in charge of our response. We have our standards, protocols and verbiage," says CEO Dennis Mabe, who was vice president of engineering and operations at the time of the attack. “But an event like this is totally different."

Such non-storm-related crises are becoming more prevalent, says NRECA Senior Vice President of Communications Stephen Bell, and can include everything from governance issues to cyberattacks to social media meltdowns. And while the co-op response to such events can be similar to that of a storm outage, there are key differences.

With a hurricane or an ice storm, “you usually have time to prepare and you have a chance to put first things first and make sure you're ready," Bell says. “If a crisis occurs without advance warning, it becomes a much bigger stress test on your preparedness and planning."

Quick thinking and creative problem solving in the moment helps, he adds. But co-ops that come out in good shape, like Randolph EMC, have a well-rounded and well-rehearsed crisis communications plan.

“We went down an intentional path of being completely transparent," Mabe says. “We tried to stay positive, but not too optimistic, and we tried to state the facts of everything that we knew."

Have a plan

In 2018, the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina found itself suddenly responding in real time to news reports about compensation among trustees at one of the state's distribution cooperatives.

“We only had two days' notice of what was coming at us," says Mike Couick, the statewide's president and CEO.

The saga, he says, played out in headlines for about a year and threatened to tarnish the collective reputation of the state's co-ops.

“We had to quickly convene our co-ops and reach a consensus about how we would respond," Couick said. “Our co-ops wanted to be part of the solution, not part of the problem."

Bell says co-ops can avoid being caught flat-footed during times of sudden turmoil by having a crisis communications plan and identifying the internal stakeholders who will play a role in the response.

“In times of crisis, a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities is essential for the co-op to function well," he says. “The real-time flow of information between different departments is especially critical because it can become a significant bottleneck and source of friction during a crisis.

Randolph EMC's response leaned on the co-op's existing Major Storm Plan, which had been modified for non-storm events using lessons learned from crisis communications trainings. The co-op's culture of transparency helped keep members and the media informed about progress and the reasons behind any delays.

“We value internal communications very highly, and there is a very high level of trust among employees to act quickly and responsively," says Nicole Arnold, the co-op's communications and public affairs manager. “This 'soft skill' has become a big strength to REMC in handling the unexpected."

'Behind the curtain'

Bell says an effective crisis response depends on the “Four S's": structure, speed, skill and social media. After you've determined a crisis response team, he adds, consider practicing what-if scenarios. Better yet, do a periodic self-check.

“It can be helpful to get that shock to the system," says Avery Wilks, the reporter who broke the story in South Carolina and now works as the statewide's vice president of communications. “What are we doing? Would the member approve? If we don't feel good about those answers, what's next? Do we just bury our heads in the sand, or do we change policies?'"

In South Carolina, as news coverage of the co-op's governance troubles dragged on, ECSC took a page from its storm crisis playbook by emphasizing transparency.

“Whenever we have a huge storm, we have to keep public officials updated on prospects for recovery and restoration so that rumors don't get started," Couick says. “The public has to see that progress is being made."

To do this, Couick worked to build a strong relationship with Wilks, helping him get access to co-op officials for his reporting.

“My goal with Avery was, 'I'm going to take you behind the curtain and tell you what's going on,'" he says. “I want you to share with the public the progress we're making. And if we're not making progress, call us on it.'"

South Carolina's co-ops have won praise for their work during the crises and for telling their stories to other co-ops.

“We quickly embraced what we've been doing in other occasions where we never overpromised and underdelivered and made sure the public could see that progress was being made," Couick says.

And at Randolph EMC, positive remarks from county officials and members poured in for the co-op's steady, forthright response in the aftermath of the substation attacks.

At the end of the day, Bell says, co-ops can successfully navigate a potentially damaging situation and even gain public favor by “leaning into the story" with candor and skill.

“In a crisis, you only get one first chance to control the narrative and take strides to manage your reputation. The public analyzes your actions, and it's important to start strong," he says. “If you swing and miss on that first chance, it can become tremendously difficult to correct the public's perception."