Blue Ridge Energy Responds to Limited Outages Today…High Winds in Mountains Could Cause More Outages

LENOIR, NC (January 7, 2017 – 4pm)…Blue Ridge Energy linemen restored scattered outages today that were located primarily in Caldwell County as a result of last night’s snow storm.

Around 184 members have been restored since outages began at midnight and as of 4 pm no outages are currently reported. Most members affected have been in the Granite Falls, Dudley Shoals and Patterson area of Caldwell County. Most were caused by melting snow falling off tree limbs and slapping power lines together, leading to several blown fuses.

Blue Ridge Energy continues to be on high alert and responding throughout the weekend as needed. Weather forecasts are calling for high winds in the cooperative’s service area, which includes Watauga, Ashe, and Alleghany counties in addition to Caldwell County and parts of Alexander, Avery and Wilkes counties.

To report an outage, call the cooperative’s PowerLine at: 1-800-448-2383. Or, members can also report outages by using the new Blue Ridge mobile app available for free on the App Store and Google Play. On the mobile app and online at www.BlueRidgeEMC.com, a live outage map is available to check current outages and estimated restoration times.

As a safety reminder, Blue Ridge Energy reminds the public to stay far away if you see a downed power line! Downed lines can still be energized and therefore dangerous and even deadly. Only a trained lineman should handle or be near a downed power line. If you see a downed line, please call the cooperative at 1-800-451-5474.

Blue Ridge Energy also posts updates on its social media channels: Facebook: www.facebook.com/blueridgeemc and Twitter: www.twitter.com/blueridgeemc.

Blue Ridge Electric serves some 74,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes, Avery and Alexander counties.