The impact of Hurricane Sally was seen across the CEC system as widespread power outages began during the overnight hours of Sept. 15 when outer bands of the storm came through our area. Crews worked those outages as quickly and safely as they could until conditions became unsafe around mid-day yesterday, when the storm’s center of circulation moved across our service territory. By mid-afternoon, crews were back on the system making repairs in hazardous conditions and they worked until well after dark last night. We had two overnight emergencies that required immediate attention, one involving a car accident and a utility pole on Hwy 331, and the other involved a pole that was on fire.
Before dawn this morning, CEC line crews and assisting contractors headed back out on the system to resume the restorations effort. As of 7:23 a.m., today (Sept. 17), CEC had 1,952 members without power and currently that number stands at 12 as of 7:36 p.m. We plan to work this evening until power is restored to every CEC member that can take power. There are a few homes that are too damaged to receive power at this time.
CEC urges people who are using generators to carefully read the manufacturer’s instructions for using a portable generator. Improper use of a generator can be deadly to the homeowner and to the line workers restoring your power. You can read more about generator safety here https://covington.coop/safety/generator-safety/.
CEC strongly urges everyone to avoid downed power lines and to treat any power line as if it is energized. If you see a downed power line, stay far away from it and call the CEC outage line or 911.
We ask for your patience and understanding as we continue to resolve the remaining outages. Thank you.