Call Powerline to Report an Outage
Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Public Relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383, Ext. 3213; or E-mail: Renee Whitener
Lenoir, North Carolina (March 1, 2009, 5:30 p.m. update) - As of 5:30 p.m., linemen are responding to reports of 267 members experiencing power outages across the service area of Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation.
If an outage occurs, members should call the cooperative's Powerline at 1-800-448-2383.
Heavy snow and other winter weather today led to the outages. Power lines can also pulled down as a result of winter weather. The cooperative reminds members that downed power lines can still be energized and therefore dangerous and even deadly.
In addition to outages, Blue Ridge Electric asks members to report downed power lines immediately to the cooperative. Everyone except trained Blue Ridge Electric should stay far away from downed lines. And try to keep others far away until line technicians arrive.
If a power line falls on your vehicle while you're inside, you should stay in your vehicle until emergency personnel arrive to assist.
No one except a trained Blue Ridge Electric line technician should ever try to remove or handle a downed power line.
For outage updates at any time, visit BlueRidgeEMC.com and click on the “outage map” link which is located on the left hand side of the screen.
Blue Ridge Electric is a member-owned cooperative utility serving some 73,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes, and Alexander counties. Find more safety and outage preparation information at BlueRidgeEMC.com.
