Duke Energy restores power to nearly 90% of Carolinas customers who lost electricity due to Tropical Storm Zeta

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy as of 5 p.m. ET today had restored power to nearly 90 percent of the company's more than 500,000 North Carolina and South Carolina customers who lost electricity Thursday at the height of Tropical Storm Zeta.

The company expects to restore power to almost all of the remaining 61,000 customers ? 38,000 in North Carolina and 23,000 in South Carolina ? by 11 p.m. ET Monday, though many will be restored sooner.

Duke Energy is providing storm information ? including estimated power restoration times for specific counties ? at https://www.dukeenergyupdates.com/zeta.

The company encourages customers who remain without power to check the online outage map (at link above) and enter an address to find the most up-to-date estimated restoration time for that location.

Nearly 6,500 workers are continuing to make repairs through the weekend.

Duke Energy crews based in the Carolinas, the Midwest and Florida are involved in the power restoration effort, as well as crews from other utility companies in the Southeast and Northeast.

"We greatly appreciate our customers' ongoing patience during this multi-day power restoration process," said Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy's Carolinas incident commander. "Our crews are entering the final phase of restoration, which includes some of the most challenging and lengthy repairs to replace broken utility poles and restring power lines in hard-to-access and often remote areas."

A small number of additional power outages are possible Sunday in the Carolinas as high winds associated with an unrelated weather system move through the region, Hollifield said.

Hardest hit counties

North Carolina's hardest hit counties included: Catawba, Chatham, Cleveland, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Graham, Guilford, Henderson, Iredell, Lincoln, Macon, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Polk, Randolph, Rockingham, Rowan, Rutherford, Stokes, Swain, Transylvania, Vance and Yadkin.

South Carolina's hardest hit counties included: Anderson, Cherokee, Chesterfield, Greenville, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg and York.

Power restoration process

Duke Energy focuses on safely restoring power in a sequence that enables power restoration to public health and safety facilities, and to the greatest number of customers, as quickly as possible. Click here for information on how Duke Energy restores power.

Avoid fallen power lines

The company reminds the public to stay away from fallen or damaged power lines ? as they might still be energized and dangerous. Citizens should report downed power lines to Duke Energy immediately. Click here for a video demonstration and to read more about safety around power lines.

Report power outages

Customers who experience a power outage can report using any of the following methods:

• Visit duke-energy.com on a desktop computer or mobile device.
• Use the Duke Energy mobile app (download the Duke Energy App on your smartphone via Apple Store or Google Play).
• Text OUT to 57801 (standard text and data charges may apply).
• Call Duke Energy's automated outage-reporting system:
• Duke Energy Carolinas: 1-800-POWERON?(1-800-769-3766)
• Duke Energy Progress: 800.419.6356 

Duke Energy

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. It employs 29,000 people and has an electric generating capacity of 51,000 megawatts through its regulated utilities and 2,300 megawatts through its nonregulated Duke Energy Renewables unit.

Media contact: 800.559.3853

SOURCE Duke Energy