Power restored to 1.35 million customers in Carolinas; workers continue efforts to access damage and repair and rebuild grid in S.C. Upstate and N.C. mountains

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy workers are navigating unprecedented destruction and challenging conditions in the Upstate South Carolina and western North Carolina communities devastated by Helene.

"We're beyond grateful to the state and local government workers who have been on the job 24/7 to clear debris, reopen roadways and help those whose lives have been changed forever by this storm," said Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy's storm director in the Carolinas. "Our thousands of lineworkers and other storm workers are gaining better access to the destruction – allowing them to remove trees, broken poles and downed power lines, log each piece of damaged electrical equipment and begin repairing and rebuilding major portions of the power grid that were simply wiped away."

Here's an update as of 4 p.m.:

• In South Carolina:
  • Duke Energy restored nearly 442,000 customer outages; about 443,000 customers in the Upstate remain without power.
• In North Carolina:
  • Duke Energy restored more than 910,000 customer outages; about 346,000 customers in the mountain region remain without power.
• Overall, Duke Energy restored 1.35 million customer outages in the Carolinas following Helene.
  • As of Sunday, service was restored to nearly all customers who are outside of the South Carolina Upstate and North Carolina mountains and were capable of receiving power.
• Duke Energy expects to restore the majority of the remaining 790,000 customer outages by Friday night.
  • Power restoration may take longer in areas that continue to be inaccessible, dependent on infrastructure that has been destroyed or are unable to receive service.
• Lake levels declining:
  • Duke Energy's lakes along the Catawba-Wateree River Basin have reached their highest point and are expected to slowly decline over the next several days.
  • Real-time lake level information is available at duke-energy.com/lakes or by calling 800.829.LAKE (5253).
• Links and resources: 
  • Outage Map: duke-energy.com/outages
  • Outage Alerts: duke-energy.com/outages/alerts
  • Generator safety: duke-energy.com/outages/generators.
  • Power restoration process: duke-energy.com/outages/restoring-your-power

Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. The company's electric utilities serve 8.4 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 54,800 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities serve 1.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.

Duke Energy is executing an ambitious clean energy transition, keeping reliability, affordability and accessibility at the forefront as the company works toward net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company is investing in major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including expanded energy storage, renewables, natural gas and nuclear.

More information is available at duke-energy.com and the Duke Energy News Center. Follow Duke Energy on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, and visit illumination for stories about the people and innovations powering our energy transition.

24-Hour: 800.559.3853

Editor's note: Video is available of Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy's storm director in the Carolinas, offering an update on the company's response to Helene.

SOURCE Duke Energy