- About 1.1 million customers remain without power as of
1 p.m.
- Workers continue assessing damage, making repairs and
rebuilding infrastructure following severe damage caused by
Helene
- Company continues moving historic amounts of water through
Catawba-Wateree River Basin
Editor's note: B-roll of flooding in Asheville is available on the Duke Energy News
Center.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 28,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy workers have labored
through record flooding, road closures, storm debris and more over
the past 24 hours to restore power to 723,000 customers in the
Carolinas.
The company said nearly all customers outside of the western
parts of the Carolinas should have power restored by 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 29, though many
will be restored before then.
Workers continue to encounter major challenges accessing areas
across the North Carolina
mountains and Upstate of South
Carolina, limiting the company's ability to assess damage
and provide customers with estimates for when power is likely to be
restored. Duke Energy is working with local and state officials to
gain access to the hardest-hit areas where roads are obstructed.
The company is also supplementing its damage assessment efforts
with helicopters and drones and will publish estimated power
restoration times as soon as possible.
"Historic flooding, debris and road closures remain an
incredible challenge to assessing the severe damage to our system
and restoring power in the North
Carolina mountains and South Carolina Upstate," said
Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy storm
director for the Carolinas. "Our crews appreciate our customers'
patience and support as they continue working around the clock to
safely and quickly restore power."
Power outage and restoration updates
As of
1 p.m. on Saturday, Duke Energy has
restored power to 723,000 Carolinas customers impacted by Helene.
This includes more than 544,000 customers in North Carolina and 178,000 in South Carolina.
Approximately 1.1 million customers – 539,000 in North Carolina and 597,000 in South Carolina – remain without power. The
vast majority of these outages are in the western portions of each
state.
The company serves more than 4.5 million customers in the
Carolinas, including 3.7 million in North
Carolina and 835,500 in South
Carolina.
Duke Energy lineworkers, tree trimmers and other storm support
workers started assessing damage and restoring power before Helene
even exited the Carolinas on Friday afternoon. Workers will
continue to assess damage – with the help of helicopters and drones
in the hardest-hit areas – and restore power until every customer
who can safely receive power is back on line.
Information on estimated restoration times is continually
updated on Duke Energy's Outage Maps tool. Customers also can
enroll in Outage Alerts to get information about area
outages and restoration efforts via text message, voice message or
email.
Power restoration process
Duke Energy focuses on
restoring power in a sequence that enables power restoration to
public health and safety facilities and to the greatest number of
customers as safely and quickly as possible. Our typical
restoration process follows this sequence:
- Public safety situations – crews locate downed power lines and
make sure electricity is no longer flowing through the wires.
- Transmission, substation equipment and main distribution lines
– these serve large numbers of customers and large geographic
areas, and must be restored first to keep electricity flowing from
power plants to neighborhoods.
- Essential facilities – emergency service and critical
infrastructure such as hospitals, law enforcement, fire departments
and water treatment facilities.
- Distribution lines – we work to get the largest number of
customers back on as quickly as possible.
Visit duke-energy.com/Outages/Restoring-Your-Power to learn more
about how Duke Energy restores power after major storms.
More storm workers arriving
The company has 13,000
lineworkers, tree trimmers and other support personnel working on
storm restoration efforts in the Carolinas. These include Duke
Energy employees and contractors based in the Carolinas as well as
individuals from other electric companies in 19 U.S. states and
Canada.
Duke Energy is also working to bring additional resources to the
region.
Move over, it's the law
Duke Energy reminds all
drivers to move over or slow down considerably when they see
emergency service and state transportation vehicles with flashing
lights. "Move over" laws in North
Carolina and South Carolina
are meant to protect workers – like those working to restore power
– from life-threatening injuries.
Additionally, the company asks members of the public to avoid
approaching utility workers in the field or entering their work
zones as they clear debris and restore power.
Flood and meter box damage
Duke Energy cannot
reconnect power for customers whose home or business is flooded
until the electrical system passes inspection by a licensed
electrician. If there is damage, an electrician will need to make
repairs and obtain verification from the local building inspection
authority before power can be restored.
A property owner with a damaged meter box or one that is pulled
away from the structure will need to enlist an electrician to
reattach the meter box and/or provide a permanent fix. This is
inclusive of customers currently with and without power. In some
instances, an electrical inspection may be required by the county
before Duke Energy can reconnect service. An electrician can advise
customers on next steps.
Generator safety
Customers using power generators
should turn off generators if they see utility crews in the area.
Excess electricity created by a generator can feed back onto
electric lines and lead to severe injuries to line technicians.
Additional generator safety information is available at
duke-energy.com/outages/generators.
Record-high lake levels and associated flooding
Helene
delivered historic rainfall across much of the Carolinas. Duke
Energy manages its lakes as an integrated system and continues
moving water through its river basins. Duke Energy's hydroelectric
and dam operations are operating as expected.
Several of its lakes in the upper part of the Catawba-Wateree
River Basin have already crested and are expected to slowly decline
over the next several days. Other lakes may continue to rise and
could lead to flooding.
Duke Energy urges people living in low-lying areas to use
caution, stay informed and follow the directions of state and
county emergency management. They should also watch for emergency
notification messages on their mobile phones.
Real-time lake level information is available
at duke-energy.com/lakes or by calling 800.829.LAKE
(5253). Updates are also available through the Duke Energy Lake
View mobile app, which is available from the App Store and Google Play.
Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150
company headquartered in Charlotte,
N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies.
The company's electric utilities serve 8.4 million customers in
North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio
and Kentucky, and collectively own
54,800 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities
serve 1.7 million customers in North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.
Duke Energy is executing an ambitious clean energy transition,
keeping reliability, affordability and accessibility at the
forefront as the company works toward net-zero methane emissions
from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions
from electricity generation by 2050. The company is investing in
major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including
expanded energy storage, renewables, natural gas and nuclear.
More information is available at duke-energy.com and the Duke
Energy News Center. Follow Duke Energy
on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, and visit illumination for
stories about the people and innovations powering our energy
transition.
24-Hour: 800.559.3853
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SOURCE Duke Energy