Blue Ridge Electric Sets New Record Peak
For Immediate Release
Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Corporate Communications, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383 ext. 3213; Pager:1-800-471-1323; or E-mail: Renee Whitener
Lenoir, North Carolina (3 p.m. January 24, 2003) – On one of the most bitterly cold mornings of the season with snow lingering in all of Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation’s service territory, member demand for energy led to an all-time record peak for the cooperative.
The cooperative peaked at providing 295 megawatts of power this morning to its 65,000 consumers in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes and Alexander counties. The former record peak was in December 2000, when the cooperative hit 263 megawatts. The cooperative’s morning peak usually occurs at 7:30 a.m.
Most of the 1,079 outages that occurred due to high winds during Thursday night were restored by the time the cooperative reached its peak period. Linemen had restored power overnight to 369 member-households in Watauga County, 365 members in Ashe County, and 23 members in Caldwell County. Linemen also restored power to 288 members in the Idlewild and Maple Springs communities reaching into Alleghany and Wilkes counties. The outages were caused by high winds Thursday night and early Friday morning that resulted in trees on power lines.
At 7:35 a.m. Friday, 465 members on Kirby Mountain Road in Caldwell County lost power due to a tree falling on a power line, and linemen had repaired the line and restored this outage by 12:45 p.m.
Wind damage continued to cause some problems throughout the day Friday. By 3 p.m. Friday, linemen had restored power to 272 members on Meat Camp Road in Watauga County, as well as to 62 members in the Fin-Shore area of Watauga County. Restoration efforts were complete by 3 p.m. for 227 members on Hanes Barn Road in Ashe County.
If members experience an outage, they may call any local Blue Ridge Electric office or PowerLine at 1-800-448-2383, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Blue Ridge Electric’s home heating fuels subsidiary, Blue Ridge Energies, continues to remain open and delivering propane, kerosene and home heating fuel where roads are passable. The Lenoir office on 110 Nuway Circle remains open to fill propane cylinders for customers. In addition, the commercial gasoline area of the business continues deliveries to gas stations where roads are passable.
Blue Ridge Electric is a not-for-profit cooperative utility serving over 65,000 consumers in northwest North Carolina. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Blue Ridge Energies, provides home heating fuels and commercial gasoline to Caldwell, Catawba, Watauga, Ashe, and Alleghany counties.
