Duke Energy crews have restored power to more than 131,000 customers in North and South Carolina following winter storm Fern. As of 2 p.m. on Monday, January 26, approximately 22,000 customers remained without electricity.
Most outages caused by the storm are expected to be resolved by the end of Monday. However, some areas with significant damage or difficult road conditions may not see restoration until Tuesday. Rick Canavan, Duke Energy’s storm director, said: “Our crews are working to restore most outages tonight. We are seeing isolated areas with more extensive equipment damage along the Blue Ridge escarpment, in places like Hendersonville, Travelers Rest and Clemson, so it is possible that some customers in those areas will not have service restored until Tuesday.” He also warned customers about a scam text message circulating: “I also want to warn customers about a scam text message that is targeting utility customers. The message mentions outages and includes a link. That message is not from Duke Energy; please avoid clicking on the link.” He added: “Thank you for your patience and cooperation as crews continue their work.”
At 2 p.m., Duke Energy reported that in North Carolina, 93,609 outages had been restored and 10,554 customers were still without power. In South Carolina, 37,450 restorations were completed with 11,422 remaining outages.
Duke Energy serves around 4.7 million electric customers in North and South Carolina—3.8 million in North Carolina and nearly 860,000 in South Carolina.
With colder temperatures increasing energy use this week as heating systems run longer hours, Duke Energy has offered advice for managing energy consumption to help prevent higher bills. Recommendations include setting thermostats to the lowest comfortable temperature, checking air filters for efficiency, using sunlight during the day to warm rooms naturally by opening blinds or curtains and closing them at night to retain heat, and running ceiling fans clockwise to push warm air down. More tips can be found at duke-energy.com/WinterEnergySavings.
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) is based in Charlotte, North Carolina and provides electricity to about 8.6 million customers across six states including Florida https://www.duke-energy.com/our-company/about-us. The company operates with a generation capacity of over 55 gigawatts and supplies natural gas services to around 1.7 million customers across five states.
The company continues its efforts toward an energy transition focused on reliability and value for its customers by investing in grid improvements and cleaner generation sources such as natural gas, nuclear power, renewables and energy storage https://www.duke-energy.com/energy-education/energy-savings-and-efficiency/winter-energy-savings.
Further information is available at duke-energy.com or through Duke Energy’s news center.
