As of Oct. 1, 2024, power has been restored to over 99% of App State’s New River Light and Power (NRLP) service area.
Restoration continues to hold steady this morning, Oct. 2.
Timeline of events
NRLP teams responded to outages beginning at 3 a.m. on Friday, Sep. 27. Lineworkers, technicians and staff worked through the height of the storm, restoring outages, answering phone lines and providing mass communications.
As the devastating effects of Tropical Storm (TS) Helene became clear, NRLP requested assistance through the public power mutual aid network, facilitated by ElectriCities of NC, the same morning.
The first to respond was the City of Wilson, N.C. Teams from Wilson Energy arrived the night of Sep. 27, bringing a team of 15 experienced lineworkers and a fleet mechanic, as well as much-needed line and bucket trucks, equipment and gear. They began restoration efforts alongside NRLP crews the next morning.
Two-man teams from Lexington Utilities and Washington Electric Utilities, N.C., joined restoration efforts on Sep. 29.
At approximately 1 p.m. on Friday, Sep. 27, about 6,300 NRLP customers experienced loss of power. Power was quickly restored to the north side of Boone at 1:20 p.m., and south Boone by 3 p.m. By the morning of Sep. 28, approximately 85–90% of customers were restored. On Sep. 29, about 98% were restored. On Sep. 30, nearly 99% of NRLP’s service area was restored. As of Oct. 2, over 99% of customers have full power.
“The timely and effective restoration efforts in our service territory would not have been possible without the diligence of NRLP, Wilson, Lexington and Washington crews, and the coordination of our joint-action agency ElectriCities of NC,” said Matthew Makdad, NRLP general manager.
“The mutual aid compact is one of North Carolina public power’s strongest assets in times like this. Our mountain community is indebted to the diligent crews of Wilson Energy, Lexington Utilities and Washington Electric Utilities.”
Damage to electrical infrastructure
The Oak Grove substation sustained significant flooding and is currently not operational. There is no estimated time of restoration, however, this will not impact NRLP's ability to provide full power to its service area.
Additionally:
Nearly 20 utility poles were damaged and replaced. Many others were not damaged but were knocked over during the storm and had to be reinstalled.
Over half a mile of main lines had to be reinstalled.
At least ten transformers had to be replaced.
Continuing restoration efforts
Remaining outages will take time to restore if restoration is possible. This is due to several factors, including safety concerns, awaiting repairs by certified electricians and Town of Boone inspections.
NRLP lineworkers and technicians will continue to work around the clock in 12-hour rotating shifts. This is down from 16-hour shifts during the height of restoration efforts.
Engineering specialists will assess the Oak Grove Substation in the coming weeks. Repairs will be extensive.
As NRLP continues restoration tasks in its service territory, efforts to assist neighbors at Blue Ridge Energy are already underway. Although NRLP’s small team of linecrews has worked tirelessly since the predawn hours of Sep. 27, they are answering the call of the greater High Country community.
Customer service updates:
Our office remains open during regular business hours and we are here to help. If you need to charge your EV, the charger outside our lobby is free to use for anyone in our community. We have water, snacks and coloring pages available. NRLP has been shown an outpouring of support and we want to pay it forward.
Customer service is open regular business hours of Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Our lobby is open.
After-hour outages are back to regular reporting procedures. Please dial 9 when prompted and you will be forwarded to App State Police.
We continue to work with the Town of Boone to identify areas of concern to assist in service disconnections and advise on repair needs.
If you have been displaced and need to disconnect service, please contact customer service if able.
NRLP would like to express its deepest gratitude to its crews and staff, most of whom experienced damage to their own homes. They answered the call when needed the most, leaving their homes and families to respond to the community’s needs. A number of staff were not able to return home until recently and many are still without power and water. Thank you for your service.
In addition, NRLP would like to thank the community for its kindness and generosity. Thank you to Chef Pauly and the staff at Bocca Bistro for providing hot dinners to NRLP and visiting teams since Saturday evening, Campus Dining, The Rock Boone, Hardin Park School, Mast General, Adam Korevec at Cisco Foods and many others, including customers for their patience, kind words and support.
Correction: In the initial update, we incorrectly listed that all 9,000 NRLP customers lost power at approximately 1 pm on Sep. 27. An error in our SCADA system produced incorrect data. More current information shows that approximately 6,300 customers, or about 75% of all customers, lost power during that outage event. This number does not account for other or additional outages that occurred as a result of TS Helene.
