Duke Energy restore power to more than 270,000 Carolina customers in wake of winter storm

As of Jan. 18, 2022, Duke Energy reported that just 244 power outages and 4,942 customers remained without power in the Carolinas, following a weekend winter storm that had, at its height, knocked out power for more than 270,000.

Repair crews had restored power to more than 250,000 customers by 3 p.m. Monday, and as of now, it’s regions in North Carolina that bear the brunt of remaining work. Within that state’s mountain and Southern Pines regions, Duke Energy reported that extensive and, in some cases, remote damage to existing lines was complicating work.

“We were ready for this storm, and thankfully it was much less severe than anticipated,” Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy Carolinas storm director, said. “We greatly appreciate the ongoing patience of our customers who lost power, especially given the cold temperatures across the region. Our crews are working to safely restore power to all impacted customers as soon as possible.”

As of noon on Tuesday, of those customers without power, 4,833 were scattered throughout North Carolina, although more than 3,500 of these were in Moore County. Just over 100 customers remained without power in South Carolina.

Duke Energy serves approximately 4.3 million customers across the two states, with 3.5 million in North Carolina and another 800,000 in South Carolina. Hundreds of extra utility workers have been on hand to help deal with the recent damage.