ENERGYUNITED RESPONDING TO OUTAGES FROM HURRICANE IAN

STATESVILLE, N.C. – Nearly 6,000 EnergyUnited members are without power on Saturday morning as Hurricane Ian moved inland across the Carolinas. During the peak of the storm, more than 10,000 members were without power. Cumulatively, the cooperative has experienced 13,000 outages since 2:00 p.m. on Friday. Ian delivered heavy rain and strong winds in excess of 50 mph, resulting in significant damage across EnergyUnited’s Foothills and Yadkin River Regions. Most of the outages were caused by fallen trees; however, crews have also discovered 14 broken poles to be replaced.

EnergyUnited crews are receiving restoration support from four utility companies and seven electric cooperatives today. In total, nearly 200 lineworkers and utility employees are supporting the cooperative’s restoration efforts. Due to the number of distinct outage events, some members will likely be without power until Sunday.

As crews work to restore power to EnergyUnited members, it is important to remember that the safety of our employees, members and communities are our number one priority. Downed power lines represent the greatest threat following a major storm such as Hurricane Ian. So, please stay away from all lines, whether they are on the ground or hanging overhead. Always assume that any line you see is energized and deadly. Call our customer care center at 1-800-522-3793 to report such safety hazards.

Additionally, please remember the importance of using generators safely as well. Never use a portable generator indoors, due to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Portable generators should only be used in outdoors in well-ventilated areas, when necessary to power essential equipment.

To view the latest outage information from EnergyUnited, members can visit our Outage Map, which is accessible through My EnergyHub and on energyunited.com. Members can also report outages using My EnergyHub, or by calling 1-800-EUNITED.

About EnergyUnited
EnergyUnited Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) is the largest electric cooperative in North Carolina serving over 135,000 metering points. Headquartered in Statesville, EnergyUnited provides electric service in portions of nineteen counties in west central North Carolina which include Alexander, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Guilford, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Randolph, Rockingham, Rowan, Stokes, Wilkes and Yadkin. Visit energyunited.com to learn more about the cooperative’s energy services and community programs.

Strong winds and heavy rain from Hurricane Ian resulted in 200 separate outage events across EnergyUnited’s service area. The cooperative received several reports of fallen trees and downed power lines as storm winds intensified Friday evening.