Power restoration efforts by Duke Energy are continuing in Ohio and Kentucky after severe weather caused outages earlier this week. By Friday morning, more than 96% of affected customers saw their power restored. Crews are still at work in the most severely impacted areas of eastern Hamilton and Clermont counties.
Initially, the storm left 69,000 customers without electricity. By Friday morning, that number dropped to 2,400. Clint Carnahan, Duke Energy's general manager of emergency preparedness, stated, "Our crews are working tirelessly, and we’ve made significant progress, but we won’t stop until every last customer who can receive power is back on line." The company is also keeping an eye on weather forecasts for any potential storms or flooding that could trigger new outages.
Duke Energy's restoration strategy prioritizes repairs to large power lines and critical infrastructure, which restores service to the highest number of customers. After that, crews focus on specific neighborhoods and homes.
For updates on power outages and their status, Duke Energy offers several resources. Customers can get information from the company's interactive outage map or report issues via text, mobile app, or by calling the automated outage-reporting system.
Duke Energy Ohio/Kentucky serves a large customer base, providing electric service to 910,000 and natural gas service to 560,000 customers. More broadly, Duke Energy serves 8.4 million electric customers across several states and continues to invest in upgrading its electric grid and pursuing cleaner energy initiatives.
For further details about Duke Energy and its initiatives, visit their website or follow them on various social media platforms.