Raleigh, N.C. — Outage numbers for North Carolina’s electric cooperatives continue to fall as crews work to make repairs through areas of flooding, washed out roads, inaccessible restoration points and fallen trees. Cooperatives will continue to monitor conditions as floodwaters from cresting rivers could create additional outages in some eastern North Carolina areas in the coming days.
Co-op outages:
Cooperatives are reporting 54,800 outages at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, down from a peak of 270,000 co-op outages on Sunday. Lights came back on for close to 19,200 co-op members overnight, and in total, crews have restored power to more than 215,200 members since Hurricane Matthew struck the state. Close to 270 workers from western North Carolina and surrounding states are in the field assisting local co-op line-workers and tree trimmers. Counties experiencing the highest number of co-op outages at this time are Robeson, Cumberland, Sampson, Harnett and Wayne.
Transmission outages:
Cooperatives are working closely with Duke Energy on remaining transmission outages. Several transmission outages have been restored, and more repairs to transmission outages are expected today. Transmission-based outages account for approximately 75 percent of the cooperatives’ remaining outages.
Safety:
Never wade into, or drive through, flood water.
Only use generators and charcoal grills in well-ventilated areas; a garage does not count as a well-ventilated area.
Never touch a downed power line, and remember that sometimes debris can cover fallen lines, making them difficult to spot.
Thank you:
Restoring power quickly and safely is the electric cooperatives’ priority. While awaiting transmission restoration, electric co-ops will continue working – around the clock – to repair any remaining damages to distribution systems. We thank members for their patience and many kind words during the storm.
North Carolina’s 26 electric cooperatives collectively serve approximately 2.5 million people in 93 of the state’s 100 counties.Six electric cooperatives serve 16 North Carolina beaches, and many more serve hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in other parts of eastern North Carolina.