CVEC Storm Damage Update : 6:33 PM 6.13.13

Arrington
Nelson County, VA

Updated 6:33 PM 6-13-13
Update to the 6:15 Report:
Members in the Trevillians service area are without power due to a fire at a Dominion Power transmission line pole. Their line has been de-energized and one of their repair crews has been called in.

Dominion also has identified the issue with the transmission feed to the Mount Rush substation. Repairs are underway.

Updated 6:00 PM 6-13-13
As of 6:00 PM CVEC has 5500 members without service, with the majority located between Appomattox and Louisa Counties.

1425 members served by the Mount Rush substation in Buckingham County are without service and awaiting the restoration of power delivery to the substation by Dominion Power Transmission Services.

The areas served by the Palmyra office are making good progress in Fluvanna, Louisa, Orange, eastern Albemarle, western Goochland and in the Cartersville area. Crews anticipate completing repair work to a large portion of the members in that area in the next few hours. Once work is complete those crews will be redeployed to assist crews in other areas.

A number of other areas have sustained significant damage from the storm and will take longer before damages are repaired.
· For example, in Nelson County, there is a broken pole and 13 spans of wire on the ground along the Rockfish River Road on the Woods Mill circuit out of the Martins Store substation area.
· In the Pamplin Substation area in the South District, one circuit has two broken poles (on three-phase lines) and there is wire on the ground on the other circuit. A pole typically will take a minimum of 4-hours to replace.

While CVEC has a good damage assessment and has strong projections regarding the total number of outages, individual restoration estimates are not possible. Many, if not most of the 5500 members, will see service restoration this evening (If Dominion Power restores service to the Mount Rush substation) but it is possible that work will extend into tomorrow before all members see service restoration.

Members may report outages online at www.mycvec.com or by calling 800-367-2832 to use the automated outage reporting system. Members may also track restoration progress at www.mycvec.com using the online outage map, which will be updated once a crew completes repairs, re-energizes the line, then contacts the dispatcher to report the service restoration.

Updated 4:20 PM 6-13-13
CVEC currently has 4200 members without power with the majority of the outages occurring between Appomattox and Louisa counties including Cumberland and western Goochland counties.

CVEC began seeing storm damage mid-afternoon with two substations (Trevillians (728 members) along the i-64 corridor and Mount Rush (1425 members) in Buckingham) losing the power feed from the Transmission Delivery Company. Transmission services have been restored to Trevillians but CVEC is still awaiting the delivery of power to the Mount Rush Substation, leaving a little less than 3000 members affected in the remainder of the substation areas.

The Co-op will post regular updates on www.mycvec.com and members and media can track outage restoration on the CVEC Outage Map.
If the storms pass through and the outage totals do not rise, crews will have a good opportunity to knock down the outage totals.

Members should call report an outage through the CVEC Outage Map or by calling 800-367-2832 and using the automated outage reporting system.

Original post at 10:26 AM
Central Virginia Electric Cooperative Storm Preparations

With the forecasted arrival of severe weather in portions of Virginia, Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) is preparing to respond to potential outages from downed trees due to high wind and earth saturating rain.

Field crews and equipment are ready to go if necessary.  Dispatchers and field supervisors are prepared to coordinate power restoration efforts.  Member service representatives are available to answer member calls and enter outage tickets.  Crews from adjoining cooperatives are standing by should their assistance be necessary.

CVEC members may report outages by calling 800-367-2832 and using the automated reporting system.  Cooperative members may also visit www.mycvec.com on a computer or a smart phone to report an outage online.  Each reported loss of power will be entered into the CVEC Outage Management System, where it will be combined with other reported outages to allow dispatchers to send crews to where they will do the most good.

Outage updates will be available through the local media, on the CVEC Facebook page, and at www.mycvec.com.  The Cooperative website also features an outage map with the number of members affected within each substation service area.

Co-op members are advised to take appropriate measures that include preparing for an outage and creating an outage kit.   CVEC also requests that members turn off major appliances after a loss of power, in order to help with cold load pick up…the point when power is restored and there is a major burden on the distribution system.

For safety sake, anyone that encounters a down-power line, please stay clear, even if there is no obvious sparking.   Do not attempt to cut trees on power lines.  The tree may be conducting electricity.  In addition, once cut, the power line may launch the tree in any direction.  Please leave restoration work for the trained linemen.

If the storm does result in significant power outages, CVEC crews will begin repairs along major lines closest to the local substation, then work their way out along the primary lines, clearing outages as they go in order to restore service to as many members as soon as possible.  Other personnel will be creating damage assessment, while other crews may be dedicated to service restoration in local neighborhoods or clusters of home.

Look for updates from CVEC if necessary and then on a regular basis.

Central Virginia Electric Cooperative is a member-owned, not-for-profit, electric utility serving the rural portions of 14 Virginia counties.