Afternoon Update:
SVEC on Friday gained access to all Page County sites with outages remaining from Wednesday’s powerful storms, but an assessment of the damage has determined full restoration will run into Saturday.
As of 4 p.m. Friday, about 60 members who have been out of service since Wednesday remain out in Page County. Crews are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore service to these members in the general areas of Fort Valley Road and U.S. 211 near New Market. Among existing damage, several broken poles in difficult terrain in the Fort Valley Road area will necessitate continued outage restoration on Saturday, with SVEC crews expected to be joined by contractors and remaining mutual aid crews from Northern Virginia, Prince George and Community electric cooperatives.
Further outage updates can be tracked through the Outage Center and on the MySVEC app.
Morning Update:
Progress continues with service restoration in SVEC’s territory, with a focus on the 100 remaining outages in Page County as Friday’s efforts unfold.
Access to certain outage sites in Page County has been limited or unavailable as first responders respond to fires in the area. As of 11:30 a.m. Friday, SVEC, its contracted crews and mutual aid assistance from other Virginia electric cooperatives are progressively gaining more access to assess damage from Wednesday’s strong winds.
An estimated time for restoration in these specific areas of Page County is pending, as further assessment of damages occurs on Friday.
“I am extremely proud of the work done by everyone over the last two days. I have seen a great deal of cooperation and involvement from across the cooperative working together to assist our members,” SVEC President and CEO Greg Rogers says. “As we head into another major day of restoring service due to this event I want to remind our members that in working outages, we stay vigilant over safety. Our amazing crews have been working through difficult and tiring conditions this week, and in the process they watch out for one another as they face what feels like new hazards when it comes to air quality and other challenges that have been prevalent in this event.
“I am thankful for our sister cooperatives that have pitched in to help, along with our loyal contractors, and I appreciate all the work done by the SVEC folks to help them help us.”
At the start of Friday’s efforts, outages totaling about 350 members were largely concentrated in Page and Rockingham counties. For Rockingham, the Bergton area was the focus. Similar issues with access because of area fires have occurred there. As of 11:30 a.m. Friday, service has been restored to the 90 members who had remained out in the Bergton area.
SVEC will continue to monitor crews’ site-specific work on Friday under air quality guidance provided by the EPA and Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
Members are advised to report outages on the Outage Center, the MySVEC app or by calling 1-800-234-7832. Please DO NOT touch downed power lines. Report them immediately by calling 1-800-234-7832.