Duke Energy initiates rolling blackouts as severe weather conditions impact Triad communities
Power company asks customers to voluntarily reduce electric usage
Power company asks customers to voluntarily reduce electric usage
Power company asks customers to voluntarily reduce electric usage
Thousands of North Carolinians woke up on Christmas Eve morning in the dark.
These outages come after two days of severe weather conditions: heavy rain, below-freezing temperatures and wind gusts causing multiple down trees and powerlines.
Saturday morning Duke Energy initiated temporary outages or rolling blackouts to extend any power that was available.
"Because temperatures came in a little bit lower than even we had forecasted across our system, that created a situation where we needed to take some temporary power outages this morning in order to extend the available generation that we had to meet all energy customer’s needs," said Jeff Brooks, spokesperson for Duke Energy.
As of 3:42 p.m., Duke Energy said the emergency rotating outages concluded, and restoration for interrupted service should be completed today.
Ardmore resident Matt Floge is one of those who temporarily lost power. He said he wished his family had gotten more notice.
“We’re just confused by the lack of communication from Duke or the powers that be," he said.
Multiple neighbors contacted the WXII newsroom inquiring about the ongoing situation, as they said they were not able to get in touch with customer service representatives from Duke Energy.
"This morning, I think that there was probably a lot of demand for getting on the website when those outages began to occur," Brooks said. "There might have been a temporary slowdown there, but it should start to ease up as the morning goes on."
The power company also called on the community asking them to reduce electric usage, if possible.
“That can include turning down your thermostat just a few degrees. Two or three degrees can make a huge difference in our system and so on your energy bill," said Brooks, "We’re talking about extreme cold and so the farther the difference is between your thermostat and the outside temperature, the more that unit is going to run.”
Duke Energy says customers can also avoid using large appliances such as dishwashers, ovens, and dryers during high-demand periods like winter mornings.
Along with charging electric vehicles overnight and limiting the use of hot water if you have an electric water heater.
Click here for an outage summary from Duke Energy.
