Outages Across N.C. Electric Cooperative Network Reach 270,000

- Electric cooperatives reporting 270,000 outages as of 11 a.m. Sunday.

- Eastern-based co-ops navigating road washout, flooding and debris to reach restoration points.

- Cooperatives working with transmission providers to make sure those high-voltage lines can be reenergized quickly.

News provided by

North Carolina's Electric Cooperatives

Oct 09, 2016, 11:37 ET

RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 9, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With gusty winds lingering, North Carolina's Electric Cooperatives, the 26 locally owned and operated cooperative businesses from the mountains to the coast, are continuing to see outage numbers rise. Outages caused by Hurricane Matthew extended from central North Carolina to southern, eastern and coastal communities. Cooperatives located on the western side of central North Carolina see conditions improving and are making significant restoration progress, but it's slow going for cooperatives in southern and eastern communities.

Road conditions in southeastern North Carolina are treacherous. Many roads have been washed out or flooded, and they are also littered with debris and fallen trees. Electric cooperative line crews are having to navigate these dangerous, complicated conditions before they can reach restoration points, and it is expected this effort will last several days if not longer.

Many outages are transmission-based, and the electric cooperatives are working with transmission service providers to make sure those high-voltage service lines are restored as quickly as possible. When transmission outages are restored, the cooperatives will be able to re-energize affected substations and bring service back to a significant portion of cooperative members.

We thank electric cooperative members for their patience; getting your power back on is our priority, and we will get it done as safely and quickly as possible. North Carolina's electric cooperatives' line personnel are joined by 175 additional linemen from Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

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