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.
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SOURCE Duke Energy