Duke Energy Races to Restore Power After Hurricane Helene: Latest Updates

Duke Energy continues to make progress in restoring power to customers across North and South Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s devastation.

As of Tuesday, approximately 656,000 customers remained without electricity, down from over 1.3 million who lost power when the storm hit on September 27.

Helene caused widespread damage to power lines and electrical infrastructure, including more than 370 substations, which serve as critical links between high-voltage transmission lines and local distribution networks. Duke Energy has been able to restore many of these substations, but flooding and severe damage to others have complicated the recovery process.

Current Restoration Efforts:

• About 346,000 homes and businesses in North Carolina and 446,000 in South Carolina remain without power. Duke Energy aims to restore service to most customers by Friday but warns that areas with extensive damage or inaccessibility may face longer delays.
• The damage is particularly severe in parts of South Carolina, where 50% of the outages are expected to require significant infrastructure replacements.
• In some cases, mobile substations may be deployed to temporarily restore power, although reaching damaged areas remains difficult due to blocked roads and debris.

Challenges and Infrastructure Impact: The flooding of substations has presented one of the biggest hurdles to restoration efforts. In some locations, the damage is so extensive that full reconstruction, rather than repair, will be necessary. Adding to the challenge, there is a global shortage of transformers, which are critical components for substations. However, Duke Energy officials remain optimistic that their stockpiles of equipment will prevent major delays due to the shortage.

Scott Aaronson, an executive from the Edison Electric Institute, emphasized that access to damaged infrastructure has been the biggest challenge for crews, as roadways remain blocked by storm debris. Helicopters and drones are being used to assess damage, but those methods have limitations.

Looking Ahead: Duke Energy has already restored power to over 1.35 million customers, primarily in regions outside of the mountainous areas of North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina.

Despite the progress, some homes and businesses may be unable to receive power until they are rebuilt. The scale of destruction, particularly in regions like Buncombe County, North Carolina, has been described as “biblical devastation.”

With input from the New York Times, CBS News, WBTV3.