“This storm has been hard on customers, and hard on our employees,” said E. O. Ferrell, senior vice president of electric distribution for Duke Power. “ Our employees – many of whom are also without power –  have been working around the clock to answer customer calls, coordinate efforts with governmental and other service agencies, organize and dispatch crews, as well as take care of the critical hands-on efforts needed to remove trees from lines, replace poles and other equipment and repair downed lines.

“We made good progress the last two days, and we know the work that lies ahead will be extensive,” Ferrell said. “More favorable weather conditions over the weekend should help our restoration efforts. We continue to urge customers to be patient and to use extreme caution around fallen power lines.”

Approximately 10,000 Duke Power employees, contractors and neighboring crews are dedicated to the restoration efforts. The company projects that 90 percent of the outages will be restored by Wednesday evening, Dec. 11. 

Power outages and downed power lines should be reported using the 1-800-POWERON (1/800-769-3766) telephone line. If a customer has reported an outage, it isn’t necessary to call again unless the customer’s power remains off when a neighbor’s power is restored.

Major areas affected as of 6 a.m.: 

SATURDAY, DEC. 7, WE WILL PROVIDE UPDATES ON OUR MEDIA OUTAGE UPDATE LINE AT 704/382-8333 ON THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULE:

6:30 a.m.

11 a.m.

4:30 p.m.

9:30 p.m.

PLEASE PRESS OPTION 1. THIS OPTION WILL ALSO ALLOW YOU TO REACH A REPRESENTATIVE FOR INTERVIEW.

Duke Power, a business unit of Duke Energy, is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities and provides safe, reliable, competitively priced electricity to approximately two million customers in North Carolina and South Carolina. Duke Power operates three nuclear generating stations, eight coal-fired stations, 31 hydroelectric stations and numerous combustion turbine units. Total system generating capability is approximately 19,300 megawatts. More information about Duke Power is available on the Internet at: www.dukepower.com.

Duke Energy is a diversified multinational energy company with an integrated network of energy assets and expertise. The company manages a dynamic portfolio of natural gas and electric supply, delivery and trading businesses – meeting the energy needs of customers throughout North America and in key markets around the world. Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is a Fortune 500 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available on the Internet at: www.duke-energy.com.