“We gained significant ground yesterday and last night,” said E.O. Ferrell, senior vice president of electric distribution for Duke Power. “We’re confident we will get the lights back on for all of our customers affected by the storm by midnight tonight.”

More than 12,000 workers have spent the past eight days restoring power to the 1.3 million Duke Power customers impacted by last week’s ice storm.

“The men and women working on the recovery have done a truly phenomenal job,” said Ferrell. “They’ve worked long, hard hours in very difficult conditions.

“I especially want to thank our customers for their understanding and patience during this entire storm restoration process. Their outpouring of support for each other and for our workers shows community spirit at its finest,” he continued.

Outages in North Carolina as of 5 a.m. are 13,600, including:

·         Charlotte, 3,500 outages

·         Burlington, 1,150 outages

·         Chapel Hill, 800 outages

·         Durham, 3,800 outages

·         Gastonia, 50 outages

·         Greensboro, 350 outages

·         High Point, 3,200 outages

·         Salisbury, 750 outages

Additional information:

·         If your power remains off when a neighbor’s power is back on, the company advises you to call 1-800-POWERON (1/800-769-3766).

·         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.)

·         The company is closely watching the weather forecast. Parts of the service area could see increased winds on Saturday that may cause additional outages unrelated to the ice storm. These are not expected to be widespread.

Last update today:  5 p.m.

REPORTERS CAN CALL OUR MEDIA OUTAGE LINE AT 704/382-8333.   OPTION 1 PROVIDES UPDATES. THIS OPTION WILL ALSO ALLOW REPORTERS TO REACH A REPRESENTATIVE FOR AN 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.