Blue Ridge Electric Linemen on the Scene
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 (10:00 a.m., September 17, 2004) – Power was lost to more than 14,000 members of Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation this morning as the remnants of Hurricane Ivan dumped rain and blew high winds across northwest North Carolina.
As of 10 a.m. Friday, the Watauga district of Blue Ridge Electric’s service area had 8,640 members without power, while Ashe district had 3,927 members without power. In Alleghany County, 1,384 members lost power and in Caldwell, 414 members were without power.
To report an outage, members are asked to call Powerline, the cooperative’s automated outage reporting system, at 1-800-448-2383.
Blue Ridge Electric linemen were called in just before midnight Thursday as outages began occurring. Additional crews with between 70 and 90 men from sister cooperative Piedmont Electric Membership Corporation, Pike Electric and Carter Construction were assisting Friday in power restoration efforts. More crews were on the way Friday morning to help Blue Ridge Electric linemen repair numerous broken poles and downed power lines all across the cooperative’s service territory.
Downed power lines can be dangerous, reminds Renee Whitener, director of corporate communications for Blue Ridge Electric. “Downed lines can still be energized and therefore dangerous, even deadly, if you come into contact with the line,” she said. “You should keep away from downed power lines and any object the line may be touching. Additionally, you should never drive your vehicle over downed power lines. If you see a downed power line, contact Blue Ridge Electric.
Blue Ridge Electric is a not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative serving some 67,000 member owners in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe and Alleghany counties, as well as portions of Wilkes and Alexander counties. Its subsidiary, Blue Ridge Energies, provides propane and heating fuels from offices in Lenoir, Boone, Hickory, and West Jefferson.
