“We have restored power to more than 953,780 customers as of this afternoon,” said E.O. Ferrell, senior vice president of electric distribution for Duke Power. “The crews are doing a solid job getting the lines back up, but the work is tedious and time consuming.”   

With continued favorable weather conditions, the company projects to have service reconnected to 90 percent of affected customers, as planned, by midnight Wednesday, December 11.

“Our customers have been very patient while our crews work feverishly to repair service,” Ferrell said.

If your power remains off when a neighbor’s power is back on, the company advises you to call the 1-800-POWERON (1/800-769-3766) telephone line again. The line offers options for Spanish speaking customers. (Si su casa sigue sin servicio eléctrico y sus vecinos ya tienen electricidad, favor de llamar al teléfono de Duke Power, 1-800-POWERON (1-800-943-6914). Nuestras operadoras pueden atenderle en español.)

“Our recovery efforts have received strong support from our suppliers, manufacturers and transportation companies. They are also working 24 hours-a-day to make sure we have the materials needed to fully restore service to all of our customers,” Ferrell said. 

Customers are cautioned to make sure their meter box has not been damaged. If the meter box is damaged or pulled away from the building, customers need to contact a licensed electrician for repairs and their local county inspection office for an inspection.   

Outage numbers will continue to fluctuate as line workers have to disconnect some services to test lines or make additional repairs further down the line.

Major areas affected as of 4 p.m.:

ESTIMATED TIMES OF RESTORATION

MONDAY, DEC. 9: WE WILL PROVIDE UPDATES ON OUR MEDIA OUTAGE UPDATE LINE AT 704/382-8333 ON THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULE:

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.