Crews Make Tremendous Overnight Progress: Outages Down to 69…Full Restoration Projection Updated to Noon Sunday
LENOIR, NC (December 10, 2017 – 8 am)…Line technicians with Blue Ridge Energy made tremendous progress overnight and the full restoration projection has been moved up to noon Sunday.
As of 8 am, crews are working hard to restore the final 69 members, all in Caldwell County, and numbers are falling fast.
Friday’s extremely heavy, wet snow caused damage to some 400 locations on the cooperative’s electric system, causing outages to at least 1,500 Blue Ridge Energy members. The most significant damage and extended outages were in Caldwell County.
Damage extended through the weekend as heavy, wet snow fell from trees outside rights of ways and onto power lines, breaking poles and tearing down lines in many locations.
The public is warned that downed power lines can still be energized and should stay far away and report downed lines to the cooperative.
Blue Ridge Energy called in assistance from contractor crews and sister cooperatives to help restore power as quickly and safely as possible.
To ensure all outages are recorded in the Blue Ridge Energy tracking system, it is very important for members to report outages using one of the following two options:
• Call PowerLine: 1-800-448-2383
• Use the Blue Ridge mobile app, available free in app stores
A live outage map is available on the mobile app and online at www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com.
Blue Ridge Energy posts updates on its social media channels including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Blue Ridge Electric serves some 75,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes, Avery and Alexander counties.