Duke Energy crews have restored power to more than 131,000 customers in the Carolinas following Winter Storm Fern. As of 2 p.m. on Monday, January 26, approximately 22,000 customers remained without electricity. The company expects that most outages caused by the storm will be resolved by the end of the day, but some areas with significant equipment damage—particularly along the Blue Ridge escarpment in places such as Hendersonville, Travelers Rest, and Clemson—may not see service return until Tuesday.
Rick Canavan, Duke Energy’s storm director, said: “Our crews are working to restore most outages tonight. We are seeing isolated areas with more extensive equipment damage along the Blue Ridge escarpment in places like Hendersonville, Travelers Rest and Clemson, so it is possible that some customers in those areas may not have service restored until Tuesday.” He also warned customers about a scam involving text messages: “I also want to warn customers about a text message scam targeting utility customers. The message mentions outages and includes a link. That message is not from Duke Energy; please avoid clicking on the link.” Canavan added: “Thank you for your patience and cooperation as crews continue their work.”
At 2 p.m., North Carolina had over 93,600 outages restored with around 10,500 still without power. South Carolina had about 37,450 restorations and roughly 11,400 remaining outages.
Duke Energy serves about 4.7 million electric customers across North Carolina and South Carolina—3.8 million in North Carolina and nearly 860,000 in South Carolina.
With colder-than-normal temperatures expected to persist this week and heating systems likely running longer hours—which can lead to higher bills—the company offered energy efficiency tips for those with restored power:
– Set thermostats to the lowest comfortable setting; lowering it even slightly can save energy.
– Check air filters to ensure systems run efficiently.
– Open blinds or curtains during sunny days for natural warmth; close them at night to retain heat.
– Run ceiling fans clockwise to push warm air downward.
Additional advice can be found at duke-energy.com/WinterEnergySavings.
Duke Energy is one of the largest electric power holding companies in the United States. It provides electricity to approximately 8.6 million customers across six states (North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky) with a collective owned generation capacity of over 55 gigawatts. Its natural gas utilities serve about 1.7 million customers in five states.
The company is investing heavily in grid improvements and cleaner generation sources—including natural gas, nuclear power, renewables and energy storage—as part of its transition toward smarter energy while maintaining reliability for its customers.
More information is available at duke-energy.com or through Duke Energy’s newsroom.
