Appalachian Power Storm Response Update #26
Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024 – 9 a.m.
Situation
By way of helicopters and special equipment, Appalachian Power's workforce of 7,360 is working to rebuild the energy grid in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Approximately 5,000 personnel will be concentrated in Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and Southern West Virginia on Thursday to restore power to customers impacted by Friday's windstorm. As of 9 a.m. Thursday, 28,500 customers remain without electric service.
Outages & Damages
- With 85% of the assessment completed, crews have found 583,000 feet of fallen wire and damaged equipment, including 885 poles and 285 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.
- More than 1,500 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 90%, or 253,500, of customers since the peak of 282,000 on Friday.
- About 22,400 of the remaining affected customers are in Virginia, and just under 6,000 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 Clintwood; Glade Spring; Lebanon; Sugar Grove and Woodlawn, Va. Areas in Northeast Tennessee include Bloomingdale and Boozy Creek.
Restoration Estimates
Due to extensive damage in some areas, Appalachian Power updated estimated restoration times (ETRs) on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
- Thursday, Oct. 3, 6 p.m. for the Glen Lyn, Va., area.
- Thursday, Oct. 3, 11 p.m. for the Clintwood, 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; Grundy; 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.
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, 1 p.m.