Appalachian Power Storm Response Update #25
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 – 9 p.m.
Situation
On Wednesday, Appalachian Power crews and contractors continued to rebuild the energy grid and restore service to customers impacted by Hurricane Helene. Nearly 90% of the 282,000 customers who lost electric service Friday are now with power, thanks to crews' efforts amidst historic flooding, fallen trees and debris, and road and bridge closures. More than 7,360 personnel are committed to working safely around the clock to restore power to customers in several Southwest Virginia and Southern West Virginia communities. As of 9 p.m. Wednesday, 30,200 customers remain without power.
Outages & Damages
- With over 85% of the assessment completed, crews have found 2,550 spans of fallen wire and damaged equipment, including 590 poles, 315 crossarms and 150 transformers. Assessing damage following a storm is critical to prioritizing the public's and employees' safety by first identifying hazards, including downed trees, broken electrical equipment and fallen wire.
- Hurricane Helene's landfall brought down trees, destroying nearly 80 transmission lines across Appalachian Power's system. These high-voltage lines deliver bulk power to substations in Appalachian Power's Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia communities. Approximately 360 transmission workers have repaired 68 impacted substations and restored service to 65 of the 80 high-voltage lines.
- More than 1,600 unique locations across Southern Virginia and Southern West Virginia need repairs.
- Workers continue to make significant restoration progress in areas without challenging access and flooding.
- Crews have restored power to nearly 90%, or 251,800, of customers since the peak of 282,000 on Friday.
- About 23,800 of the remaining affected customers are in Virginia, and just under 6,400 are without service in West Virginia.
Storm Response Efforts
- Appalachian Power planned for outages from this storm by having all employees and business partners on alert and prepared to work.
- A workforce of 7,360 employees and contractors remain dedicated to storm restoration work, including mutual assistance crews from 30 states as far as Nebraska.
- The energy grid is heavily interconnected, and crews are working throughout the system to restore power as safely and as efficiently as possible.
- Hundreds of crews are rebuilding the power grid in some of the hardest-hit areas, including Bluefield; Damascus; Grundy; Fries; Independence; Lebanon; Sugar Grove; Tazewell and Whitetop, Va.
- As work finishes in one area, crews are shifted to other areas to join those already deployed there.
Restoration Estimates
Due to extensive damage in some areas, Appalachian Power updated estimated restoration times (ETRs) on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
- Wednesday, Oct. 2, 6 p.m. for the Christiansburg and Grundy, Va., areas. Some outages in Grundy, Va., will extend into Thursday, Oct. 3.
- Wednesday, Oct. 2, 11 p.m. for the Kingsport, Tenn., area.
- Wednesday, Oct. 2, 11 p.m. for the Clintwood, Va., area.
- Thursday, Oct. 3, 6 p.m. for the Glen Lyn, Va., area.
- Thursday, Oct. 3, 11 p.m. for the Bluefield, W.Va., area.
- Thursday, Oct. 3, 11 p.m. for the Bluefield; Gate City; Glade Spring; Lebanon; Tazewell; Woodlawn; Wytheville, Va., areas.
- Customers are encouraged to view the company's outage map or sign up for outage alerts for information on their specific outage.
- Restoration may extend further in isolated instances where extensive repairs are needed.
Weather
Weather remains favorable for restoring electric service. Downed trees and flooded areas may impact restoration efforts. Crews will continue to work as safely and quickly as possible.
Hydro: Byllesby/Buck
- Appalachian Power proactively initiated the Emergency Action Plan (EAP) for the Byllesby/Buck Hydro Electric Facility on Friday, Sept. 27. The plan was activated for a Potential Failure due to lack of visibility of our facility as water flows on the New River continued to rise.
- The Potential Failure at Byllesby/Buck was lifted on Saturday, Sept. 28. The Non-Failure Emergency was lifted on Sept. 30.
- River conditions have started to return to normal, and an inspection of our Byllesby/Buck Hydro facility has shown no issues. We will work to coordinate further inspections of the facilities in the coming weeks. Both Buck and Byllesby Powerhouses are down and inoperable now due to maintenance stemming from the high waters brought on by Hurricane Helene. We will provide more information as it becomes available.
Hydro: Niagara
Appalachian Power warns all boaters to stay clear of Niagara Dam on the Roanoke River in Vinton. Debris brought on by the heavy rains broke the floating boat barrier that keeps boaters away from the dam.
Hydro: Claytor
We are aware of the large amounts of debris at our Claytor Hydro facility and are coordinating clean-up activities with the Friends of Claytor Lake.
Safety Message
- High winds bring down power lines. Customers should treat all downed lines as live power lines and stay away from them. Never touch downed power lines or sparking equipment. Keep children and pets away from fallen wires and anything the lines may touch, and immediately call 911 and Appalachian Power at 1-800-956-4237.
- Customers without power who are on life support systems or need uninterrupted electric service for health reasons should make alternate arrangements.
- Be aware of scammers and remember that Appalachian Power will never request upfront payment or a reconnection fee in return for restoring your service.
- Follow all recommended precautions if using a personal generator. Never use a generator inside your home, garage, crawl space, other enclosed areas, or anywhere else where exhaust fumes can enter enclosed spaces. Never connect a generator to your home's circuits. Plug appliances directly into the generator.
- Flooding occurred in many areas throughout our service territory. Be cautious and remember to turn around; don't drown.
- Find additional safety tips at AppalachianPower.com/Safety.
When to Call an Electrician
- Appalachian Power cannot connect power to a home or business if there is damage to the service entrance, which the customer owns.
- Customers need a qualified electrician to repair this damage before power can be restored. The service entrance includes the metal box housing Appalachian Power's meter, the "weatherhead" pipe on top of the meter box, the service entrance cables running from the weatherhead through the meter box to the inside panel box, and other related facilities. Similar responsibilities apply to "underground" service.
- After repairs are made, contact Appalachian Power to have power restored.
For More Information
Customers can subscribe to Appalachian Power outage alerts to receive specific information about outages affecting their accounts via text message and/or email. To sign up, please visit Appalachian Power alerts.
A snapshot of current outages is available anytime by visiting Appalachian Power's Outage Map.
Next Update: Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, 9 a.m.