Moore County is Without Electricity: On Saturday night, vandalism in Moore County caused a power outage for over 38,000 Duke Energy customers. The time of day is unknown, although it started after 7 p.m. and affected a wide area of the county. According to Duke Energy’s status page, power should be back on by Sunday at 10 p.m.
Duke Energy serves 47,000 residents in the county, so the 38,000 outages represent a significant fraction of the total. It was unclear what caused the power interruptions on the Duke Energy website. The power outages were caused by vandalism against electricity substations, according to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office.
Moore County is Without Electricity
As utility providers began responding to the various substations, evidence was discovered that showed that purposeful damage had happened at many sites, according to a press release from Moore County Chief Deputy Richard Maness.
Crews are responding to several early morning outages across the service area. Follow our outage map for updates: https://t.co/ijUJXHhsDH pic.twitter.com/Tlk6TTDhgN
— Seattle City Light (@SEACityLight) December 3, 2022
Two thousand people lost power just south of Carthage, another eleven thousand in Southern Pines, another eleven thousand in the Pinehurst area, and another five thousand in Aberdeen. The Foxfire neighbourhood experienced power disruptions as well.
Cable theft, Vandalism, & illegal connections are the main reasons for constant power outages in the communities.
Please be active citizen & report any suspicious activities via City Power Risk Control on 011 490 7900/7911 or via WhatsApp 083 579 4497^LP pic.twitter.com/Ur464fHdDj
— @CityPowerJhb (@CityPowerJhb) December 3, 2022
The Pinehurst Village Council issued the following statement regarding the power outage: We are cognizant of the significant blackout in Moore County. Even more, police have been sent in to help. If at all possible, avoid the roads, and remember that every intersection is a four-way stop.
Read More:
Power has been restored to nearly all of the 3900+ customers affected by the early morning outage in Echo Lake and Shoreline. Crews will continue to work until all customers are restored. Thank you for your patience. pic.twitter.com/2iaT7CfUPN
— Seattle City Light (@SEACityLight) December 3, 2022
Duke Energy’s Jeff Brooks has stated that they have no idea when power would be fully restored. The substations around the county have “failures,” he added. There were indications of vandalism to equipment, Brooks added, and authorities were looking into it.
During power outages, including loadshedding, turn off or unplug electrical appliances/devices to avoid power surges when power is restored.
Failure to do so may lead to unnecessary trips/damages to appliances and devices. pic.twitter.com/rgZIl1xgEZ
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) December 3, 2022
Read the complete press release from the Moore County Sheriff’s Office below:
Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields reports that the mass power outage across the county is being investigated as a criminal occurrence.
Just after 7 pm on Saturday evening, December 3, 2022, several different communities across Moore County began experiencing power outages. As utility companies began responding to the different substations, evidence was discovered that indicated that intentional vandalism had occurred at multiple sites. Moore County Sheriff’s Deputies and various other law enforcement agencies within the county responded to the different areas and are providing further site security.
Anyone with any information about this act of violence should contact the Moore County Sheriff’s Office at 910-947-2931.
For additional information, continue to check pabaon.com. Remember to bookmark our websites for the most recent updates.