Business Storm Center

Not always. If your business is without power, please contact us. There are three ways to report an outage: Text OUT to 57801, call us, or report it online.

No. After major storms, restoration follows a sequence of activities, many of which happen simultaneously. We prioritize the repair of public safety situations and restoring service to critical and essential services such as hospitals, police stations and water treatment facilities. We also focus on restoring main power lines that serve a large number of customers, and then move on to neighborhoods and individual outages. Because we have to restore the main power lines first, we are unable to prioritize individual outages. It's very similar to how roads are cleared after a snowstorm – interstates first, then highways and then streets. Clearing a neighborhood road first does nothing to get traffic moving if the main roads are not clear.

After major storms, there may be hundreds, if not thousands, of reports of "lines down" and they all are priorities. Our process is to check the lines to ensure they are in a safe condition – i.e., no power flowing through them – and then restore them during the normal restoration process – which could be the following day or later, depending on how much damage is in the area.

We are committed to providing safe, reliable service. However, during severe weather events, we cannot guarantee customers a constant supply of electricity or priority treatment. We work very closely with state and local emergency managers to identify and restore nursing homes and special-care facilities as quickly as possible, but these facilities need to take the necessary actions to ensure the safety of their patients in the event they are without power, and consider alternate arrangements if they experience an extended outage.

No. Unfortunately, Duke Energy cannot assume responsibility for spoiled food or other losses caused by a storm, as extreme weather is beyond our control. Food loss or other storm-related loss is one of the many unfortunate occurrences in cases of extreme weather, such as a hurricane. But don't despair. While there is no need to file a claim with our Duke Energy insurer, you should check with your individual insurer and/or FEMA regarding loss claims.

No. Your monthly energy bill includes electricity that is used inside your business. When the power is out, you are not charged, because you aren't using any electricity.

We haven't forgotten about you! Storm damage can affect many different power lines, as well as equipment that provides electricity to your business. It's possible that your neighbor's power is supplied by a different main line, or that the line serving your business is damaged. Finally, it could be that your business needs repairs to your meter base or internal electrical repairs before you can receive service.

Even if your neighborhood is served by underground lines, you can still experience a power outage during a storm. This is because the lines that the electricity goes through before it reaches your neighborhood, including many main distribution lines and most all transmission lines, are above the ground. When outages do occur, underground line repairs can take longer than overhead line repairs. And flooding from major storms can inhibit crews from being able to reach underground lines in some instances.

Not always. During a large outage event, there may be situations where a customer receives a text, voice or email notification that their power is restored when in fact it is not. Usually, it's because a large area was restored, but a small pocket of customers are still without power due to additional damage that remains somewhere along the electric circuit or line. This video offers more information about how this works. 

These calls and text messages help us determine remaining outages on the line. If you receive a call or text, it means we're actively working in your area. Please respond if you're still without power. This will help us restore your power as quickly and safely as possible.

No. We will not disconnect power ahead of a hurricane, unless local emergency officials have specifically requested for us to do so.

Damage that causes power outages can happen anywhere along the power line system – not just at your specific location. For instance, a substation that sends power to your specific community may be located miles from your business. If that substation is damaged during a storm and causes power outages, you may never see a crew on your neighborhood street.