Duke Energy has restored electricity to more than 131,000 customers in the Carolinas following Winter Storm Fern. As of 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 26, nearly 22,000 customers remained without power. The company reported that most outages caused by the storm would be resolved by the end of the day, but some areas with severe damage could experience delays into Tuesday.
According to Duke Energy’s outage figures, North Carolina had 93,609 restorations and 10,554 customers still without service. In South Carolina, 37,450 customers had power restored while 11,422 remained affected. Duke Energy serves approximately 4.7 million electric customers in the Carolinas—about 3.8 million in North Carolina and nearly 860,000 in South Carolina.
Rick Canavan, Duke Energy storm director, stated: “Our crews are on track to restore most outages by tonight. We’re seeing isolated pockets of more extensive equipment damage along the Blue Ridge Escarpment – in places like Hendersonville, Travelers Rest and Clemson – so some customers in those areas may not have service restored until Tuesday.” He also warned about a scam targeting utility customers: “I also want to make customers aware of a text message scam that’s circulating and targeting utility customers. It mentions rolling outages and includes a link. That message did not come from Duke Energy; please avoid clicking the link.” Canavan added: “Thank you for your patience and cooperation as crews continue their work.”
With colder-than-normal temperatures expected to persist this week, Duke Energy is advising customers with power to take steps to manage energy use and potentially lower bills. Recommendations include setting thermostats to the lowest comfortable setting, checking air filters for efficiency, using sunlight during the day for natural warmth and closing blinds at night to retain heat, as well as running ceiling fans clockwise to circulate warm air.
Duke Energy is one of America’s largest energy holding companies with electric utilities serving 8.6 million customers across six states and natural gas utilities serving 1.7 million customers in five states. The company continues its investment in grid upgrades and cleaner energy sources such as renewables and energy storage.
Further information can be found at duke-energy.com/WinterEnergySavings or through their official channels.
