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Outage Restoration Continues with 300+ Line Crews, Contactors in the Field: Noon Tuesday: 29,681 remain without power
One example of a damaged area of the electric system
Over 300 line technicians consisting of Blue Ridge Energy crews and crews from sister cooperatives, contractors, plus tree and grading teams, are working around the clock to restore power to its service area affected by catastrophic damage from Hurricane Helene. More assistance is arriving daily from long distances to help in the effort.
“It’s impossible to describe the disaster left behind from the storm in our part of western North Carolina,” said Renee Walker, director of public relations for Blue Ridge Energy which serves 80,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe and Alleghany counties as well as portions of Wilkes, Avery and Alexander counties.
“Many parts of our electric grid have been washed down the river or taken down by mudslides,” she said. “Substations were flooded. Where there once were roads, in some areas there is no pavement, no gravel, not even dirt in some cases. We are not only repairing infrastructure, we are totally rebuilding it in many cases. This is damage of historic proportions.”
As of noon Tuesday, 29,681 members remain without power across the cooperative’s service area.
Walker said over 80% of the cooperative’s electric infrastructure was damaged: 6,800 miles of line, along with hundreds of broken power poles, are among the devastation. Assessments continue by line crews as well as by drones, and helicopter to review areas not yet reachable.
Walker said even though members may not see a truck in their neighborhood, crews are working to restore all members without power. “There may be only a single tree or fuse out in a neighborhood but what you can't see is the immense damage upstream of a home,” she explained. “Unless we energize the lines closer to the energy source—substations and transmission systems—damage fixed downstream at the neighborhood/home level isn’t going get power to a home. We need to first repair or replace the three-phase main lines.”
Walker also explained the cooperative’s redundant lines were damaged. “We often can back feed an area so that members have power while we work on the primary lines that are damaged. This storm destroyed all of our system, however, and we’re unable to do that right now,” she explained. “Crews are working to get the three-phase main lines and systems that back feed repaired so that we can get more members restored.”
Even with hundreds of crews working 24/7, some of the hardest hit areas will take another week or longer to restore. Other areas the cooperative hopes to restore sooner as crews continue making progress.
“We’re battling challenges we’re finding as we work through the damage,” Walker said. “Trees continue to fall due to saturated ground, causing more outages and damage. Flooding is beginning to subside. We hope to make much more progress as we get closer to the weekend, but we know some areas will take at least another week or more to restore due to the extent of damage, she said.
“This is not the news anyone likes to hear,” Walker said. “Members can be assured that Blue Ridge Energy is working in full force to restore power to all members as quickly and safely as possible.”
Blue Ridge Energy serves some 80,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, and Alleghany counties as well as parts of Avery, Alexander and Wilkes counties. Learn more at www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com or on the cooperative’s social media on Facebook, X and Instagram.