Sunday, Sep. 29, 2024 update:
App State's New River Light and Power (NRLP) lineworkers and technicians continue restoration efforts around our service area. They are joined by teams from Wilson Energy, Washington Electric Utilities and Lexington Utilities — all North Carolina public power utilities who answered our call for Mutual Aid through coordination with ElectriCities of NC. Vegetation management contractor Asplundh has also been instrumental in clearing the way for lineworkers and technicians.
As of this evening, power has been restored to approximately 98% of customers.
This morning, crews safely made their way into the Payne Branch area. The damage is extensive. Roads and bridges are damaged and unstable, some completely impassable or washed away. Conditions remain hazardous. Crews are still there, working to fully restore power to our customers.
Power to most of the Poplar Grove area has been stored. Numerous poles were destroyed during the storm and had to be replaced. There are still some isolated outages in the area and crews will return through the night to assess. Crews will once again work around the clock to tackle the list of smaller and individual outages, in addition to the Payne Branch project. We ask that you continue to be patient with our teams, they are making their way through compromised roads, fallen trees and other hazards.
Due to the significant improvement in restoration, customer service is now back to regular operational hours of Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Crews on duty will monitor the system for additional outages. If you experience an emergency or are in imminent danger, please call 911. Otherwise, please leave a voicemail, email us at nrlp-csr@appstate.edu, or message us on our website at nrlp.appstate.edu.
As crews continue the work of restoring power to our community, we want to express our gratitude for all the support we have received. Thank you to Bocca Bistro who have generously provided hot dinners to our tired staff and lineworkers the last two nights, App State Campus Dining for providing meals, snacks and drinks since Friday, Holiday Inn Blowing Rock and Graystone Lodge Boone for finding room for out of town teams and our own displaced staff while dealing with their own storm damage, and to the many businesses around Boone who are providing comfort and support to all first responders.
