Last Updated on October 14, 2024 4:47 pm
Lenoir, North Carolina (4 pm Monday, October 14, 2024) – After the most devastating storm in recent history hit western North Carolina over two weeks ago, an army of over 500+ line technicians, tree specialists and grading crews have Blue Ridge Energy members fully restored with power as of Sunday, October 13, at 9:54 pm.
While wind-related outages are sporadically occurring today, full restoration was possible Sunday evening after a 24/7 response when outages began from Hurricane Helene on September 27.
“A few weeks ago, we experienced the most devastating outage in the history of this cooperative,” said Blue Ridge Energy Chief Executive Officer, Doug Johnson. “We see the amount of devastation that our members have experienced, that we have experienced, and that whole communities have experienced.
“I want to thank our members,” Johnson said. Our members have been so gracious and kind to us – so appreciative and so supportive of our line workers in the field. We serve an amazing membership, and I thank you,” he said.
Line crews came from across the state and eastern United States to assist Blue Ridge Energy in restoring power to 63,000 members without electricity at the height of the outages. A significant portion of the cooperative’s electric system across all the counties it serves was damaged or destroyed: substations flooded, hundreds of poles broken or taken down by mudslides or swift water, and miles of mangled power lines were wrapped in debris, fallen trees and power poles.
Johnson discussed what will be needed in the coming weeks and months: “Now we set out on the hard path of additional recovery. We have damage to the electric grid that we’ll have to repair in the weeks and months ahead,” he said. “You have damage to your homes, businesses, vehicles, and all kinds of infrastructure that we’re going to have to work together with our federal, state and local governments and our neighbors, churches, and all the help we can get from volunteer organizations to restore and return our beautiful area back to what it was.
“We will get there!” Johnson assured. “And I will continue to hope and pray we will all work together in a way that our area comes back and recovers.”
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.
