Electric Co-ops Report 74,000 Outages

RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- North Carolina's electric cooperatives are making significant outage restoration progress despite challenging conditions.

Co-op outages:
Cooperatives are reporting 74,000 outages as of 5 p.m. on Monday. About 196,000 outages have been repaired since a peak of 270,000 co-op outages on Sunday. Close to 270 additional workers are in the field with local line-workers and tree trimmers to speed repairs to local cooperative systems. Counties experiencing the highest number of co-op outages at this time are Robeson, Bladen, Sampson, Harnett and Wayne.

Transmission outages:
Cooperatives are working closely with Duke Energy on remaining transmission outages. Several transmission outages have been restored today, and more repairs to transmission outages are expected tonight and tomorrow. Transmission-based outages account for approximately 75 percent of the cooperatives' remaining outages.

Safety:

• Only use generators and charcoal grills in well-ventilated areas; a garage does not count as a well-ventilated area.
• Never touch a downed power line, and remember that sometimes debris can cover fallen lines, making them difficult to spot.

Thank you:
Restoring power quickly and safely is the electric cooperatives' priority. While awaiting transmission restoration, electric co-ops will continue working – around the clock – to repair any remaining damages to distribution systems. We thank our members for their patience and many kind words during the storm.

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.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161008/426614LOGO

SOURCE North Carolina's Electric Cooperatives