Electric Cooperatives Making Progress; Report 125,000 Outages

-- Electric cooperative crews are responding to 125,000 outages as of 7 a.m. Monday.

-- Affected co-ops are joined by 240 reinforcement crews from western North Carolina and surrounding states to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.

-- Help keep linemen safe by slowing down, moving over and driving carefully when crews are working along roadsides.

News provided by

North Carolina's Electric Cooperatives

Oct 10, 2016, 08:18 ET

RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Electric cooperative crews continue restoration work this morning, navigating fallen trees, debris and limited access to restoration points due to continued flooding. As of 7 a.m. Monday morning, North Carolina's electric cooperatives are reporting 125,000 outages, concentrated mostly in southeastern and coastal counties.

Since Saturday, cooperative line crews have made steady progress making local system repairs. Progress will continue today with assistance from 240 additional line and construction crews from western North Carolina and surrounding states. Crews will continue their efforts until service is restored to all cooperative members. For some in the hardest-hit areas, this effort could last a couple of days. The electric cooperatives would like to thank members affected by power outages for their patience.

Many of the remaining outages are caused by damage to the bulk power system that delivers electricity to cooperative substations. In those cases, the electric cooperatives are working with transmission service providers to make sure high-voltage service lines are restored as quickly as possible. When transmission outages are restored, cooperatives expect to be able to re-energize affected substations and restore power to large clusters of members.

Electric cooperative members and all North Carolinians are asked to be especially vigilant of work areas. Road shoulders are saturated or inaccessible in some areas, which means crews will have to set up their trucks and equipment on the road. Help keep our linemen safe by slowing down, moving over and driving carefully.

North Carolina's 26 electric cooperatives collectively serve approximately 2.5 million people in 93 of the state's 100 counties. Six electric cooperatives serve 16 North Carolina beaches, and many more serve hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in other parts of eastern North Carolina.

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SOURCE North Carolina's Electric Cooperatives