RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — As a major blast of bitter cold heads for North Carolina early this week, the major electric utility in the state says preparations are underway to deal with the arctic temps.
The cold weather moves into our area on Monday with lows Monday night in the teens in central North Carolina and just single digits in the North Carolina mountains, according to the CBS 17 Storm Team and the National Weather Service.
“Dangerously cold wind chills as low as -20 (are) possible along and west of the Blue Ridge,” the National Weather Service says about North Carolina mountains starting Sunday night.
The arctic blast settles in with even colder temps forecast for Wednesday night for the Raleigh area with 14 degrees predicted as the low.
The mountains could see temps around 6 degrees Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Highs each day in the mountains will likely stay well below freezing.
Highs each day in central North Carolina are forecast around freezing with just 30 degrees for a high predicted on Wednesday.
Duke Energy, which serves about 4 million customers in North Carolina, said they have already made plans for the cold weather including “additional staffing plans and plant evaluations to ensure weather protections are in place for our equipment.”
Jeff Brooks, Duke Energy spokesman, said the company already handled advanced work on facilities.
“The operational teams also completed all maintenance outages at our power plants before the winter to ensure plants are available when they are needed during the coldest parts of the year,” Brooks said in an email to CBS 17.
But, very cold weather could cause problems.
“We could also see some isolated outages due to an occasional equipment failure from the cold temperatures,” Brooks said.
The company is watching the snow forecast Sunday night in the North Carolina mountains and Tuesday night in eastern and central North Carolina.
“If it’s a snow event and only a few inches, it will probably not result in a large number of outages. But if it’s an ice event that resulted in a quarter inch or more of ice, we could see potential outage impacts from downed tree limbs, Brooks said.
As of Saturday, Brooks said the winter weather forecast appears to be for snow.
“The power grid is a machine with millions of parts and even though it’s designed to work in extreme conditions, it’s not unusual for an isolated outage to occur due to a failed piece of equipment,” he said.
Duke Energy Progress serves about 1.5 million customers in central and eastern North Carolina, including Raleigh, as well as the Asheville region.
Duke Energy Carolinas serves about 2.2 million households and businesses in central and western North Carolina, including Charlotte, Durham and the Triad.
