Funviralpark CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – Thousands of customers were without power on Saturday after a Duke Energy outage to protect the power grid.
In a statement, Duke Energy continued to call for energy savings over the next 24 hours “to avoid a rotating blackout in the early hours of Christmas.”
About 500,000 customers had their services interrupted on Saturday to keep the power grid up.
See the complete map of blackouts
Duke Energy said it has initiated a short, temporary power outage due to frigid temperatures. Emergency shutdowns are necessary to protect the energy grid from longer, more widespread outages.
As of 1 p.m., Duke Energy said it had completed its rolling outage and was working to restore affected customers.
Carolina Storm Director Jason Holyfield said: “Like other utilities, Duke Energy took action to protect the entire energy grid, avoiding damage that could mean an even longer outage.”
blue ridge energy In addition, due to the emergency of power generation capacity due to extreme cold, rolling blackouts were forced to reduce power consumption.The blackout ended by 10:30 am
The power outage is expected to last 16-20 minutes and could extend into Monday.
“This is a difficult situation for many North Carolinians without power, but we hope that every effort will be made to get things back on track soon. Mission accomplished,” said Gov. Roy Cooper.
Governor Cooper, the Department of Public Safety and the North Carolina Emergency Management Agency recommends that kerosene heaters be properly ventilated and generators operated outdoors and away from open windows and doors to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. I am calling on everyone to do so. Use only charcoal grills and kerosene lanterns outdoors to prevent fires.
Blackout map: Real-time North Carolina and South Carolina updates
On Saturday morning, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said several traffic lights were out in and around the SouthPark Mall area along Sharon Road, Fairview Road and Park Road. There is also a traffic light from near Brookshire Boulevard north of Oakdale Road to Mount He Holly Huntersville Road.
“If you approach an intersection and the lights are off and there are no police officers directing traffic, treat the intersection as a four-way stop,” CMPD said.
Also read: Charlotte area holiday events announce closures due to inclement weather
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