Over 14,000 Duke Energy customers in Western North Carolina remain without power after Helene. The majority of these remaining outages include:
- Buncombe – 9,338
- Henderson – 1,509
- McDowell – 874
- Mitchell – 1,511
- Polk – 98
- Rutherford – 708
- Transylvania – 39
- Yancey – 122
Duke has sorted the restoration work ahead into yellow and red “zones,” officials have shared. Yellow indicates complex repair zones while red indicates disaster rebuilding will be needed.
In the case of red zone areas, some of the outages being reported include service that ran to homes that are now completely destroyed or where the electric grid was so damaged, that a wholesale rebuild is required.
“We’ve got a helicopter bringing in poles today to spots where our heavy equipment can’t get to with linemen receiving the poles on the ground, most of those customers will be restored by the end of the week for these most ongoing situations,” said Duke Energy spokesman Bill Norton.
Image reflects areas where significant damage originally occurred. Get the latest outage information at <a href=”https://duke-energy.com/OutageMap”>duke-energy.com/OutageMap</a>.(Duke Energy)
Over the last week, the utility restored Spruce Pine, Cane Creek, and Little Switzerland, among other communities, bringing in poles by helicopter. Norton predicts that most of the remaining outages should be complete by today or early tomorrow.
In order to weather storms like Helene, communities employ different strategies, many of which are being considered in the rebuild. Some rely on microgrids, or small, often solar-powered energy systems disconnected from the larger grid. In coastal areas, power lines are sometimes buried underground to protect them from high winds. Duke installed a solar-powered microgrid in Hot Springs last year, and Norton said the company hopes to replicate that in the future.
However, he said, underground power lines are not viable here due to the astronomical cost associated with removing tree roots and navigating rocky slopes.
Today, Duke is also beginning a new phase of longer-term presence in the region as the rebuild continues, opening a facility in downtown Asheville to serve as an ongoing base of operations.
“This operation center will also allow us to collaborate with national, state and local government partners from one central location, just to be sure we stay coordinated with them as the infrastructure work goes forward,” Norton said.
Norton also said last week that Hurricane Milton in Florida did not affect the utility company’s pace in Western North Carolina.