Blue Ridge Electric Restores Power for over 3,500 Members
For Immediate Release
Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Public Relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383 ext. 3213; Pager:1-800-471-1323; or E-mail: Renee Whitener
LENOIR, NC, March 1, 2005 (11:55 a.m.) – Linemen for Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation worked throughout the night across the cooperative’s service territory to restore outages resulting from yesterday’s snowstorm.
About 3,500 members were without power throughout the day. In Caldwell County, 2,527 outages were reported, 823 in Watauga County, and 150 in Ashe County. As of midnight, only about 100 members in Watauga County were without power and everyone was restored by 5 AM.
Weather conditions Sunday night resulted in heavy snow accumulating on power lines. When temperatures began warming during morning hours and snow fell off the power lines which caused some lines to “bounce” together resulting in blown fuses. By mid day, Blue Ridge crews were working over 125 different locations of power outages in each of the cooperatives four main districts-Caldwell, Watagua, Ashe and Alleghany Counties.
Members are encouraged to call Blue Ridge Electric to report outages. The fastest way to report an outage is by calling Blue Ridge Electric’s Powerline, at 1-800-448-2383.
They can also call Blue Ridge Electric in Caldwell County at: 754-9071; in Watauga County at: 264-8894; in Ashe County at: 246-7138; in Alleghany County at: 372-4646; and in Wilkes County at: 838-4655.
Blue Ridge Electric is a member-owned electric cooperative serving some 68,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes, Avery and Alexander counties.
