Power restored to more than 900,000 Duke Energy customers in the Carolinas 48 Hours after Tropical Storm Michael passes

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- About 1.1 million customers in the Carolinas were affected by power outages from Tropical Storm Michael. As of Saturday afternoon, that number was down to 175,000.

At the height of the storm Thursday, about 554,000 customers were without power – the peak number during the event.

"We have more than 10,000 people working to restore power," said Duke Energy Storm Director Rufus Jackson. "We are grateful to our customer for their patience after enduring two major storms in the past month. We have restored nearly one million outages in the two days since the storm passed, and we won't rest until everyone is back."

Jackson added that all Carolina-based line workers have been responding to the storm since the beginning. They have been joined by crews from Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, Ohio and Texas.

The Triad area of North Carolina took the toughest blow from Tropical Storm Michael, with Guilford, Rockingham, Alamance and Caswell counties among the hardest hit.

Power restoration information, by geographical zone, is available at:

https://www.dukeenergyupdates.com/michael/carolinas/hurricane-michael-restoration-in-the-carolinas

• Latest outage numbers can be found here. Information about how to report a power outage also can be found at that link.
  
  
• For the latest storm and power restoration updates, visit https://www.dukeenergyupdates.com/michael/carolinas – or follow Duke Energy on Twitter (@DukeEnergy) and Facebook (Duke Energy).
  
  
• Duke Energy urges all customers to check on neighbors who have special needs and might require extra assistance due to a power outage.

Power line safety

• Stay away from power lines that have fallen or are sagging.
  
  
• Consider all power lines – as well as trees, limbs and anything else in contact with power lines – energized and dangerous.
  
  
• If a power line falls across a car that you're in, stay in the car. If you MUST get out of the car due to a fire or other immediate life-threatening situation, do your best to jump clear of the car and land on both feet. Be sure that no part of your body is touching the car when your feet touch the ground.
  
  
• Click here for a video about power line safety.

Duke Energy

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S., with approximately 29,000 employees and a generating capacity of 49,500 megawatts. The company is transforming its customers' experience, modernizing its energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding its natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for the people and communities it serves.

The company's Electric Utilities and Infrastructure unit serves approximately 7.6 million retail electric customers in six states – North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Its Gas Utilities and Infrastructure unit distributes natural gas to approximately 1.6 million customers in five states – North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. Its Commercial Renewables unit operates a growing renewable energy portfolio across the U.S.

A Fortune 125 company, Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2018 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' 2018 "America's Best Employers" list.

More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center includes news releases, fact sheets, photos, videos and other materials. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

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SOURCE Duke Energy

Related Links

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