Blue Ridge Energy crews making headway after high winds, fallen trees damage power lines

LENOIR, NC (Sept. 12, 2017, 12:30 pm update)…Blue Ridge Energy crews have made significant headway during this morning’s calmer weather, restoring most of the several thousand outages caused by high winds and fallen trees last night.

Safety reminder: Stay far away from downed power lines!

As of 12:30 pm, 146 Watauga County members remain without power but line technicians and extra crews are working in 14 different damaged locations causing the outages. This number is down from an early morning high of over 1,000 members.

In Ashe County, line technicians are repairing system damage to restore power to a remaining 23 members, down from 113 this morning.

Full power restoration was completed in Alleghany and Caldwell counties as of mid-day. 

The cooperative reminds members and the public that downed power lines can still be energized and therefore dangerous or even deadly! Stay far away from downed lines and report them immediately to Blue Ridge Energy by calling 1-800-451-5474 or 911.

To report outages, call the cooperative’s PowerLine at 1-800-448-2383. Or, use the Blue Ridge mobile app, available for free in app stores. Check outage status at any time by viewing the Blue Ridge Energy outage map on the mobile app or at www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com.

Blue Ridge Energy serves some 75,000 members in northwest North Carolina.