- More than 1 million customers restored in South Carolina
- More than 1.3 million customers restored in North Carolina
- Severity and scale of damage unprecedented
Editor's note: Visit the Duke Energy News
Center for storm director videos, downloadable
B-roll and high-resolution images.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 5, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy restored power to 90% of Carolinas
customers able to receive power following Helene and will continue
working until all customers are restored. The company says it could
be days before it completes restoration work for all customers
capable of receiving service, especially in the hardest-hit
areas.
As of 4 p.m. ET, fewer than
105,000 customers in South
Carolina remain without power, but many will be restored by
the end of the weekend. Approximately 141,000 customer outages
remain in the mountains of North
Carolina. Duke Energy will continue to update estimated
times of restoration for customers who remain without power and
will communicate updates directly with customers.
The company's strategy over the past week has been to prioritize
the restoration of the backbone of its system, which can be
compared to the interstate highways and interchanges of the power
grid. As the backbone work is completed, Duke Energy is moving
personnel to work on the power grid's thousands of miles of lines
and poles that serve individual homes and businesses. This work can
feel slower because the same amount of work restores fewer
customers.
"As more of our workers move into the areas hardest hit by
Helene, they're encountering more severe damage on a larger scale
than we've ever experienced," said Jason
Hollifield, Duke Energy storm director in the Carolinas.
"Restoring this unprecedented damage is requiring an unprecedented
amount of equipment, people and time. We set aggressive restoration
goals and have more restoration crews in these regions than ever
before, working night and day to restore service to our
customers."
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.
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