Final Evening Update:
This is the final update for Friday, Dec. 23. As SVEC wraps up restoration efforts for the evening, our goal remains to get most members back on by 9 p.m. Saturday. We currently have about 1,000 members out.
The current outage figures, by highest totals per jurisdiction, are as follows:
Augusta: 709
Frederick: 516
Shenandoah: 195
Page: 90
For the latest information, we continue to advise members to check www.svec.coop/outage or the MySVEC app.
Safety remains the highest priority for our crews. We send our thoughts and prayers to a sister co-op, Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative in Ohio, where a lineworker was killed in an electrical contact incident Friday while working to restore power.
Evening Update:
As of 5 p.m. Friday, SVEC continues working to restore service from Friday’s high winds, with about 2,500 members out of service.
The goal is to get most members back on by 9 p.m. Saturday.
SVEC expects to have members mostly restored Friday in the Greenville, Deerfield and Spring Hill areas of Augusta County. Crews are working in hopes of having members restored Saturday in Fort Valley of Shenandoah County and Shockeysville, Cedar Grove Road, Mountain Falls and Back Mountain Road of Frederick County.
Anyone with health conditions may consider seeking alternative accommodations, to be safe.
SVEC has all available crews and contractors working in the challenging conditions of high winds and bitter cold. Another outage update will be shared Friday evening.
For the latest information, please check the Outage Map.
Morning Update:
As of 8:15 a.m. Friday, SVEC is working to restore service to about 1,700 members. We're aware of intermittent issues with the availability of the outage map on our website and the MySVEC app. You may also report outages by calling 1-800-234-7832.
As we continue to monitor Friday’s high winds and their effect on our system, please be aware this weather element is not the only threat for the weekend.
Bitterly cold temperatures through Christmas will lead to additional electric use and reliance on SVEC’s system, as long as winds do not cause widespread outage issues. With temperatures well below the freezing mark, and it being a time for gathering with friends and family, more electricity will be used than normal.
SVEC’s system is ready to handle the increased demand for electricity. It’s important for members to know during times of extreme temperatures where demand is high and, as outages occur, there may be situations where power restoration of circuits is done incrementally to avoid high load shock to the grid.
It's also important to know higher bills this time of year are a direct result of greater electricity consumption. SVEC understands members’ concerns about these unusually high bills. The cooperative encourages members to control electricity use by being aware of their energy consumption and taking reasonable conservation measures over the holidays, such as keeping thermostats set as low as you can.