Progress Energy Responding to Outages from Hanna
September 06 2008 - 8:51AM
PR Newswire (US)
RALEIGH, N.C., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A strong Tropical
Storm Hanna came ashore at 3:20 a.m., bringing high winds and heavy
rains to much of Progress Energy Carolinas' service area, and the
company has deployed hundreds of company and contract workers to
restore service as quickly and safely as possible. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020923/CHM008LOGO-c ) As of 8
a.m., about 55,000 customers were without power. Most of those
customers are in coastal areas and in the coastal plain east of
Interstate 95. Crews are also working to restore service in the
Triangle and surrounding areas, as well as the Sandhills. About
1,000 customers in South Carolina were also without power. Since
the storm is still moving through the service area, the number of
outages is expected to rise over the next several hours. Progress
Energy will provide updates every four hours through the day. The
next update is scheduled for noon. Progress Energy has supplemented
the normal complement of 300 line & service and tree crews in
Eastern North Carolina with more than 100 additional line and tree
personnel and scores of additional damage assessors and support
staff. Additional crews are scheduled to move east, if needed, once
outages in the Triangle and Sandhills are cleared. The company is
conducting damage assessment across a large area this morning, and
expects to have additional information on outage restoration later
today. "Our crews are in the field, making good progress on the
outages already reported," said Hershell McCarty, Progress Energy
Carolinas' system storm coordinator. "We know any outage is
unwelcome for our customers and we're working to restore service as
quickly and safely as possible. In some areas we expect storm
restoration to be completed fairly quickly, but where there is more
substantial damage, the restoration will take longer." The
company's storm plan includes mobilizing employees to handle
increased customer calls, to quickly evaluate storm damage, to
coordinate line crew and equipment mobilization, to coordinate
materials required for repairs, and to arrange meals and lodging
for out-of-town workers. Progress Energy works to minimize storm
impacts year-round through preventive maintenance, including
trimming of trees around the company's 6,000 miles of transmission
lines and 60,000 miles of electric distribution lines. Wind-blown
trees and limbs are the leading cause of power outages during
storms. Customers and media can find outage information on Progress
Energy's Web site at http://www.progress-energy.com/outagemap.
During major events such as storms, the map will be updated several
times a day. The quickest way to report an outage during a storm is
to call the automated outage-reporting system at 1-800-419-6356.
For the latest information, visit Progress Energy's storm site
online at http://www.progress-energy.com/storm. Progress Energy,
headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 250 energy company
with more than 21,000 megawatts of generation capacity and $9
billion in annual revenues. The company will observe a century of
operation in 2008. Progress Energy includes two major utilities
that serve 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and Florida.
Progress Energy is the 2006 recipient of the Edison Electric
Institute's Edison Award, the industry's highest honor, in
recognition of its operational excellence. The company also is the
first utility to receive the prestigious J.D. Power and Associates
Founder's Award for customer service. Progress Energy serves two
fast-growing areas of the country, and the company is pursuing a
balanced approach to meeting the future energy needs of the region.
That balance includes increased energy efficiency programs,
investments in renewable energy technologies and a state-of-the-art
electricity system. For more information about Progress Energy,
visit the company's Web site at http://www.progress-energy.com/.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020923/CHM008LOGO-c
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Progress Energy CONTACT:
Corporate Communications 24-Hour Media Line, +877-641-NEWS (6397)
Web site: http://www.progress-energy.com/
http://www.progress-energy.com/outagemap
http://www.progress-energy.com/storm
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