Due to the extensive amount of damage caused by this ice storm Piedmont Electric is expecting this to be a multi-day restoration which will carry into the weekend. Piedmont Electric is asking members to plan accordingly based on this multi-day restoration assessment. Outside crews from sister co-ops and contractors have started arriving to assist Piedmont Electric in its restoration efforts and more crews will be arriving Saturday morning. Outages are primarily resulting from trees falling on power lines and ice weighing down trees onto power lines. Please stay away from downed power lines because they can still be energized and therefore dangerous or even deadly. No one except a trained line technician should handle or be near a downed power line. The public is asked to report downed power lines by calling Piedmont Electric at 800.222.3107. Outages continue to climb as the result of this ice storm. At 358 pm Piedmont Electric had 20,488 outages with the majority of the outages in Orange, Durham and Alamance counties. Please view our Outage Viewer to keep updated on outage restoration efforts. Piedmont Electric members are asked to call us directly at 800.449.2667 to report an outage. To ensure your safety during this winter weather, please see our safety information. Please visit Steps to Restoring Power on our website to learn more about the restoration process Piedmont Electric follows during outages. Pay close attention to Step 5 which may help explain why your power doesn’t return when you see lights on at your neighbors.
