Over 5,000 Restored Thursday Night by Blue Ridge Energy Crews: High Winds, Outage Work Continues

LENOIR, NC (March 1, 2018)…Working in wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour, Blue Ridge Energy line technicians restored power to over 5,000 members in western Watauga County Thursday evening after a large transmission line was damaged.

Crews had to use an all-terrain vehicle to reach the very remote ridge-top location where damage occurred that caused the outage from 7:30 pm to 11:30 pm.

As of midnight, crews continued working to restore additional outages from extremely high winds Thursday night: 60 in Ashe County; 47 in Alleghany County; 37 additional outages in Watauga County; 17 in Caldwell County; and three in Wilkes County.

Weather forecasts call for unusually high winds to continue through most of Friday.

Blue Ridge Energy advises the public to be cautious and alert for downed power lines. If you see a downed line, stay far away as it could still be energized and therefore dangerous, or even deadly. Call to report it immediately to the cooperative: 1-800-451-5474.

To report outages, members can use the Blue Ridge mobile app or call the cooperative’s PowerLine: 1-800-448-2383.

To check outage status at any time, see the cooperative’s outage map available at www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com and on the Blue Ridge mobile app. Blue Ridge Energy also posts information during major outages and alerts on its social media channels: www.facebook.com/blueridgeenergy; www.instagram.com/blueridgeenergy and www.twitter.com/blueridgeemc.

Blue Ridge Electric serves some 75,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes, Avery and Alexander counties.