RALEIGH, N.C. (July 3, 2014, 10:00 a.m.) – North Carolina’s electric cooperatives stand ready to respond if power outages result from Hurricane Arthur, which is forecasted to bring heavy rain and strong winds to coastal North Carolina counties Thursday night into Friday afternoon. Local electric cooperative crews, equipment and vehicles are on site in potentially affected areas, and additional cooperative line crews from the western part of the state are preparing to travel to assist with restoration efforts.
When severe weather causes outages, electric cooperative line crews begin working immediately to restore service in a safe and efficient manner. Electric cooperative members should make sure they have their electric cooperative’s outage reporting phone number available. The outage reporting phone numbers for the state’s 26 electric cooperatives can be found at www.ncelectriccooperatives.com/storm/outages.htm. Piedmont Electric members are asked to call our Outage Reporting number at 800.449.2667 to report an outage or call 800.222.3107 to talk with a Member Services Representative.
Now is the time to prepare an emergency kit that includes non-perishable food and bottled water, a flashlight, radio, batteries and any other items necessary for getting through a power outage. If you encounter a fallen, sparking or sagging power line, do not touch it. Stay far away, and report it to your local electric cooperative or call 911 immediately.
North Carolina’s electric cooperatives serve approximately 2.5 million people in 93 of the state’s 100 counties.
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Piedmont Electric Membership Corporation, a Touchstone Energy Cooperative based in Hillsborough, is a nonprofit electric utility serving 32,000 consumers in parts of Alamance, Caswell, Durham, Granville, Orange and Person counties.
