Monday, March 1, 9:00 PM:CVEC has resolved the cause of the outage. All affected Cooperative members should have power. If not, please call the Co-op at 800-367-2832 to report an individual outage.
Monday, March 1, 8:44 PM: CVEC crews are working to repair a broken cross arm on a CVEC transmission line that connects the Midway substation to the Martins Store substation as well as the substations that serve Wintergreen. Communications are limited, given the location of the damage, but repairs are underway. CVEC will update the estimate restoration time as details become available.
Monday, March 1 8:00 PM: CVEC is experiencing power outages from areas fed through the Midway substation just south of Crozet. These areas include a significant portion of northern Nelson County, including the Rockfish Valley, Wintergreen, Woods Mill and Shipman. This is a single point outage, due to a broken crossarm along the 115 KV transmission line in Greenfield.
***********************************************************
Thursday, February 11, 9:00 PM: CVEC cleared the last outage at 9 PM that was caused by the winter "Snowmageddon" storm that began 6 days ago. The historic storm affected 14,000 CVEC members in Central Virginia and an estimated 1 million people in the region.
Tuesday, February 10, 10:30 PM: Transmission line repairs have been made for the night.
-
The 3 Laurel Springs substation circuits have been re-energized and have been holding for about 10 minutes.
-
The dispatchers are attempting to re-energize circuits out the Wintergreen substation.
-
-
With the heavy load (heating and appliances in the on position) the circuits may have to be brought up gradually and in sections to avoid overloading the circuits.
- The Schuyler substation has been re-energized and is holding. (537 meters
- Outage in the White Hall substation area have been resolved. (170 meters)
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Service has been restored to many of the 2063 affected members at Wintergreen Resort and the remainder will receive power soon if the circuits hold steady.
Tuesday, February 10, 10:00 PM: 537 Members in the Schuyler substation area have their lights back on. The substation was re-energized an and appears to be holding.
CVEC crews resolved a 170 member outage in western Albemarle and souterh Green counties in the area served by the White Hall substation.
Tuesday, February 10, 8:30 PM: CVEC offers the following updates on power restoration efforts from the weekend winter storm as well as an update from outages that occurred today.
CVEC is completing power restoration for small neighborhood outages and individual outages in a number of substation areas. The heaviest concentration of these remaining outages are in Fluvanna and Louisa counties. The Co-op advises members to remain as patient as possible. You may see your neighbors lights return and find that your are still without power. If that occurs, you should call CVEC to confirm that you are still on our outage list, but understand that dedicated crews are working to restore service to individual homes and businesses that need specific attention, along with crews that are restoring service at the neighborhood level.
New outages arrived on the system today with heavy winds that knocked down trees in western Albemarle and Nelson counties. A 46 kV transmission line was knocked out of service when a tree fell along the steep terrain and broke a transmission line pole feeding power to two substations at Wintergreen Resort. Crews are in the process of repairing the pole. More than 2000 meters are without service on the mountain. Given the specific nature of the damage, CVEC was able to estimate a repair time of 2 AM on February 11.
Problems have arisen at the Schuyler substation that serves more than 500 CVEC members. CVEC is working with the transmission company to investigate low voltage conditions. Look for additional information as it becomes available.
The Whitehall substation and Red Hill substation also had additional power outages of almost 200 members each.
Here are the outage figures that were cause by the weekend weather:
· Hensons Store (Fluvanna/Louisa) 38 out of 1198 meters
· Ferncliff (Fluvanna/ Louisa/ Goochland) 43 out of 1069 meters
· Kidds Store (Southern Fluvanna) 10 out of 1886 meters
· Trevillians (Louisa/ Orange) 30 out of 702 meters
· Columbia (Fluvanna/Cumberland) 43 out of 461 meters
· Cunningham (Fluvanna) 82 out of 3729 meters
· Zions (Fluv/Louisa/Albemarle) 8 out of 2444 meters
Here are the figures for the outages that occurred today:
· Laurel Spring (Wintergreen) 1037 out of 1037 meters
· Wintergreen (Wintergreen) 1024 out of 1024 meters
· Schuyler (Nelson, Albemarle) 573 out of 573 meters
· White Hall (Albemarle/Green) 207 out of 1300 meters
· Piney River (Nelson) 68 meters
· Martins Store (Nelson ) 36 meters
Tuesday, February 10, 7:30 PM CVEC is experiencing additional power outages. Three substations are affected. The Laurel Springs and Wintergreen substations that serve 2061 meters in the mountain section of Wintergreen Resort are without power, due to a problem with a 46 kV transmission line. CVEC is on the scene. The Schuyler substation serving 573 meters is also without power.
CVEC personnel have located a broken pole on the transmission line right-of-way. The repair crews have a temporary pole on site and plan to replace the broken pole. Power restoration time is estimated at 6 hours.
Additional information will be provided as it become available
Tuesday, February 10, 1:00 PM: Crews are cutting trees, replacing broken poles and repairing powerlines in an effort to restore service for the remaining 617 CVEC members affected by the winter storm. Several areas have downed trees and multiple spans of line on the ground. A span is the area of wire between two utility poles.
While there are small outage pockets in about a dozen substation areas, there are three substation areas with about 100 affected members. These substation areas are served by the Hensons Store substation (Rock Quarry Road among them), the Ferncliff substation and the Cunningham Substation. Crews are working in cold temperatures and brisk winds to reconstruct these line sections.
Here are the outage totals at this:
· Hensons Store (Fluvanna/Louisa) 136 out of 1198 meters
· Ferncliff (Fluvanna/ Louisa/ Goochland) 80 out of 1069 meters
· Kidds Store (Southern Fluvanna) 9 out of 1886 meters
· Trevillians (Louisa/ Orange) 58 out of 702 meters
· Columbia (Fluvanna/Cumberland) 51 out of 461 meters
· Cunningham (Fluvanna) 105 out of 3729 meters
· Zions (Fluv/Louisa/Albemarle) 18 out of 2444 meters
· Cashs Corner (Louisa/Albemarle) 20 out of 601 meters
· Doubleday (Louisa/ Orange) 21 out of 522 meters
CVEC is dropping the outage totals in chunks, typically comprised of 30-50 members affected by a localized outage. As crews clear, replace, and repair, the local outage is cleared and electric service is restored to a neighborhood served by that section of line.
Look for updates, later this afternoon, on the progress made today by the CVEC crews
Tuesday, February 10, 6:00 AM: CVEC ended Tuesday with 679 members without service. Crews will resume their work early this morning with the intent to resolve theremaining power outages. Here is a breakdown of outages by substation:
· Hensons Store (Fluvanna/Louisa) 168 out of 1198 meters
· Ferncliff (Fluvanna/ Louisa/ Goochland) 144 out of 1069 meters
· Kidds Store (Southern Fluvanna) 16 out of 1886 meters
· Trevillians (Louisa/ Orange) 84 out of 702 meters
· Columbia (Fluvanna/Cumberland) 59 out of 461 meters
· Cunningham (Fluvanna) 112 out of 3729 meters
· Zions (Fluv/Louisa/Albemarle) 16 out of 2444 meters
· Cashs Corner (Louisa/Albemarle) 55 out of 601 meters
· Doubleday (Louisa/ Orange) 22 out of 522 meters
Look for updates later this morning.
Tuesday, February 9, 6:00 PM: Here is a short update on power restoration efforts. CVEC currently has 920 recorded outages, down from more than 12,000 on Saturday. Crews have energize all substation circuits and are now working on down line device outages and individual outages. There will be additional progress tonight but there is a strong probability that work will continue tomorrow to address remaining outages.
In traveling through the areas that were hardest hit by the storm, crews continually encountered downed trees and extensive damage to power line equipment. CVEC rebuilt miles of powerline, almost as if they never existed. Clearing trees, setting poles, attaching cross arms and oil-filled transformers, stretching and splicing heavy wire… all had to be accomplished before the electricity could flow again.
CVEC has worked this outage in an orderly fashion…making repairs at problem areas closest to the substation so that electricity could flow down line until another fault location was encountered. From there, crews proceed down the primary line, opening line sections as they repeat the clearing and reconstruction process. Once the primary lines are open, CVEC works the single phase and tap lines. CVEC has reached the point in the restoration phase where the primary lines have been opened and they are cleaning up the damage along the single phase and tap lines.
CVEC asks its members to understand that every step in this process was made necessary as a hard hitting storm left considerable damage and created difficult work conditions. The crews have been dedicated, diligent and organized. They are working to the common goal of service restoration for every family and business on the CVEC system as soon as safely possible.
As that work is completed most members will see their service restored after the line is energized. Any member that does not see their power resume after a local outage has been resolved in a neighborhood, should create a new outage ticket with CVEC by calling 800-367-2832 or entering the outage on the CVEC website: www.forcvec.com.
Some areas such as Kidds Store, Mount Rush, Centenary and Columbia saw good progress. Other areas saw progress but momentum slowed as new damage and obstructions were discovered. Here are the latest totals:
· Hensons Store (Fluvanna/Louisa) 248 out of 1198 meters
· Ferncliff (Fluvanna/ Louisa/ Goochland) 201 out of 1069 meters
· Kidds Store (Southern Fluvanna) 31 out of 1886 meters
· Trevillians (Louisa/ Orange) 78 out of 702 meters
· Columbia (Fluvanna/Cumberland) 62 out of 461 meters
· Mount Rush (Buckingham) 3 out of 1428 meters
· Cunningham (Fluvanna) 161 out of 3729 meters
· Zions (Fluv/Louisa/Albemarle) 58 out of 2444 meters
· Cashs Corner (Louisa/Albemarle) 55 out of 601 meters
CVEC requests that members turn off their large appliances and electric heating systems when there is a power outage. This will help after lines are re-energized, reducing a potential for overloading the distribution system during cold load pickup.
Member should report outages by calling 800-367-2832 or online at www.forcvec.com. Members can follow power restoration progress on the CVEC website or the CVEC Facebook Page.
Tuesday, February 9, 12:00 PM: Power restoration efforts have progressed well at CVEC. Crews have energize all substation circuits and are now working on down line device outages and individual outages. Device outages occur when protective equipment, such as a recloser, operates to protect a line section during fault or overload conditions. Any meter beyond a device that has operated will be out of service until repairs can be made and the recloser or other protective device is reset.
Outage totals have dropped today as numerous crews have been working in Divisions 2 and 3. CVEC currently has 1129 recorded outages, down from more than 12,000 on Saturday.
The Division 3 Superintendent reports that 20 broken poles need to be replaced in Division 3 and 6 broken poles need to be replaced in Division 2. As that work is completed most members will see their service restored after the line is energized. Any member that does not see their power resume after a local outage has been resolved in a neighborhood, should create a new outage ticket with CVEC by calling 800-367-2832 or entering the outage on the CVEC website: www.forcvec.com.
· Hensons Store (Fluvanna/Louisa) 218 out of 1198 meters
· Ferncliff (Fluvanna/ Louisa/ Goochland) 151 out of 1069 meters
· Kidds Store (Southern Fluvanna) 328 out of 1886 meters
· Trevillians (Louisa/ Orange) 76 out of 702 meters
· Columbia (Fluvanna/Cumberland) 72 out of 461 meters
· Mount Rush (Buckingham) 46 out of 1428 meters
· Cunningham (Fluvanna) 131 out of 3729 meters
· Zions (Fluv/Louisa/Albemarle) 55 out of 2444 meters
· Centenary (Buckingham) 16 out of 1361 meters
· Cashs Corner (Louisa/Albemarle) 54 out of 601 meters
The remainders of outages number less than 10 meters per CVEC substations.
CVEC requests that members turn off their large appliances and electric heating systems when there is a power outage. This will help after lines are re-energized, reducing a potential for overloading the distribution system during cold load pickup.
Member should report outages by calling 800-367-2832 or online at www.forcvec.com. Members can follow power restoration progress on the CVEC website or the CVEC Facebook Page.
Tuesday, February 9, 5:30 AM: Here are the final outage numbers from late Monday night. Look for outage updates on Tuesday as work progresses. CVEC has a significant number of crews available to concentrate on the remaining 2200 member outages:
· Hensons Store (Fluvanna/Louisa) 170 out of 1198 meters
· Ferncliff (Fluvanna/ Louisa/ Goochland) 423 out of 1069 meters
· Kidds Store (Southern Fluvanna) 524 out of 1886 meters
· Trevillians (Louisa/ Orange) 308 out of 702 meters
· Columbia (Fluvanna/Cumberland) 333 out of 461 meters
· Mount Rush (Buckingham) 51 out of 1428 meters
· Cunningham (Fluvanna) 188 out of 3729 meters
· Cartersville (Cumb/Buck/Gooch) 16 out of 1264 meters
· Zions (Fluv/Louisa/Albemarle) 51 out of 2444 meters
· Centenary (Buckingham) 31 out of 1361 meters
· Cashs Corner (Louisa/Albemarle) 101 out of 601 meters
The remainders of outages number less than 10 meters per CVEC substations.
CVEC requests that members turn off their large appliances and electric heating systems when there is a power outage. This will help after lines are re-energized, reducing a potential for overloading the distribution system during cold load pickup.
Member should report outages by calling 800-367-2832 or online at www.forcvec.com. Members can follow power restoration progress on the CVEC website or the CVEC Facebook page.
Monday, February 8, 10:30 PM: On Friday when the storm set in, our crews worked an 18 hour day as outages began occurring. Since then, the have worked 16 to 18 hours each day. We do not have firm totals for the storm, but more than 3000 man-hours have been worked since Friday in efforts to restore the system. We have replaced a trailer load of poles, repaired hundreds of crossarms, and spliced conductors in span after span of wire. We have cut hundreds of trees away from the lines. There is still work to be done, but huge progress has been made since the storm subsided late Saturday. As of this hour the reported outage total is 2437, down from 12, 000.
During the storm, 32 different substations had outages on them which required a widespread effort to address all of the damage. As of 9 pm, we will only have six substations with more than 100 accounts still out. There are several more with smaller taps still out, but by tomorrow morning we will be able to focus all of our efforts on a much smaller area as we address each tap still out of service.
All main feeders should be on by the end of tonight’s work. Though the main lines will be energized, tomorrow will be a full day.
We have 19 different locations to re-energize taps on Kidds Store circuits. We have 8 locations with problems out of Trevilians, and 8 locations we will need to work out of Hensons Store. Most of the other substations each have 1 to 3 tap lines still out. In addition to these taps, there are another 50 or more locations with one or two accounts out that will require attention.
All CVEC crews, and all of the crews from other cooperatives and contractors, will begin early tomorrow and work through the day even with the forecasted falling weather. The crews have found much more damage than we anticipated on the first day after the weather cleared, and the rough and rugged conditions have slowed our progress in the off road areas where we had the most work. We will persevere through the day tomorrow in an effort to restore service as quickly as possible to every meter. Thank you for your patience.
Monday, February 8, 6 PM: CVEC is preparing information about the Outage Status as we head into the evening. Some areas have been cleared of outages, some may have service restored by the end of the day, but we do know that a full day’s work lays ahead for tomorrow. Here is some information from initial reports:
· CVEC is currently showing 3774 outages, down from a peak of 12,000 on Saturday.
· CVEC has two challenges that limit our ability to provide information and projections. Our substation communications have been affected by this storm, which limits our ability to pull outage data and provide immediate updates to the outage map. Totals will be higher as a result. Secondly, CVEC is still encountering trees that must be cleared which slows down progress and limits our ability to confidently project full power restoration. Some people have compared line sections to a "war zone" due to all of the damage and debris. encountering trees that must be cleared which slows down progress and limits our ability to confidently project full power restoration. Some people have compared line sections to a "war zone" due to all of the damage and debris.
· Crews have made progress in the Evergreen Road section served by the Hensons Store substation. We are awaiting updated figures from that area and expect more power restoration this evening.
· The Kidds Store Substation in Southern Fluvanna is an area that will see some restored service this evening but there is alot of work projected for tomorrow. The safe bet is that if you don't have power tonight, then it is unlikely that power will be back on tonight.
· The Columbia Metering Point that serves northern Cumberland and southeastern Fluvanna has been a challenge. The transmission delivery of power was dropped twice and crews have not made progress. They have found some significant damage on the north circuit. The safe bet is that if you don't have power tonight, then it is unlikely that power will be back on tonight.
· The Cunningham substation is still showing 300+ outages. CVEC is working to verify that total. It might be lower. We will know more in about an hour or so.
· The Ferncliff substation has reportedly seen improvements on two circuits and may have more services restored before the end of the day (It will be another late night with crews working 16-18 hour shifts).
· We have received initial reports that improvements were made in the Trevillians substation area. We will wait on details from the field and will provide verification and specifics, but some members are reporting that their power has returned.
CVEC will provide additional information as it become available and offers the a following advice and reminders:
· If you are out of power, turn your large appliances and electric heating units to the off position to help with cold load pickup. Leave a light on and slowly turn on the heavy appliances after power is restored to avoid overburdening the distribution system.
· If you receive a callback from the Outage Management System computer indicating that CVEC projects that your power has been restored, either confirm or update your information. An outage may have been cleared near the substation, restoring power for many, but also exposing a second outage on the tap line near your home. You may need to report the outage again.
· You can report outages online and also check your status by going into the outage reporting process. You may see the status as OFF, indicating that CVEC has your power as still out, or you will see a status of ON, indicating that you power may be ON (It may just have been projected as ON but an unknown secondary outage may be near your home. See the comment above.) If you are away from home, then you should feel confident that power is still out if you see the OFF status.
· Please make good decisions. Since CVEC cannot predict with certainty when you power will be restored…move to a friend’s home or a shelter if you have concerns about your health or well being.
· Thank you for your patience and support and know that the Co-op is working as hard and as fast as possible to restore service to your home.
Member should report outages by calling 800-367-2832 or online at www.forcvec.com. Members can follow power restoration progress on the CVEC website or the CVEC Facebook Page.
CVEC Makes Good Progress in Power Restoration – More Work Ahead
Monday, February 8, 1 PM: Here is an update to the 6 AM Report: Current outage levels indicate 4700 CVEC members without power, the majority located in the areas served by the Palmyra office in Fluvanna County.
Crews are making progress as the day progresses but must also contended with off-road mobility issues and a high level of downed trees. One line section located in Louisa County has 30-50 downed trees that must be cut and clear before, repairs can be made and that line section energized. Once complete repairs to tap lines will then need to be address. There are also communications issues that remain in that area. CVEC does not have full data connectivity to all of its substations at this time.
CVEC is working on problems in the Kidds Store substation in Fluvanna County, the Centenary substation in Buckingham, as well as the Columbia, Ferncliff, Hensons Store and Trevillians substations along the Interstate 64 corridor. Some outages will not be resolved in these substations. While the crews are working today, less information will be known until we approach the evening. Look for more information at the time. Here is a summary by county that has figures that are higher than actual totals.
|
Summary By County
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Unknown
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0.00 %
|
|
ALBEMARLE
|
3324
|
271
|
3053
|
8.15 %
|
|
AMHERST
|
991
|
6
|
985
|
0.61 %
|
|
APPOMATTOX
|
3183
|
20
|
3163
|
0.63 %
|
|
AUGUSTA
|
129
|
0
|
129
|
0.00 %
|
|
BUCKINGHAM
|
4352
|
627
|
3725
|
14.41 %
|
|
CAMPBELL
|
28
|
0
|
28
|
0.00 %
|
|
CUMBERLAND
|
1232
|
238
|
994
|
19.32 %
|
|
FLUVANNA
|
8334
|
2290
|
6044
|
27.48 %
|
|
GOOCHLAND
|
757
|
610
|
147
|
80.58 %
|
|
GREENE
|
78
|
2
|
76
|
2.56 %
|
|
LOUISA
|
3059
|
951
|
2108
|
31.09 %
|
|
NELSON
|
8605
|
76
|
8529
|
0.88 %
|
|
ORANGE
|
266
|
0
|
266
|
0.00 %
|
|
PRINCE EDWARD
|
140
|
1
|
139
|
0.71 %
|
|
TOWN OF GORDONSVILLE
|
34
|
0
|
34
|
0.00 %
|
|
Totals
|
34512
|
5092
|
29420
|
14.75 %
|
Monday, February 8: 6 AM: Central Virginia Electric Cooperative, with the assistance of 7 crews from North Carolina electric cooperatives, local contractors and retired CVEC linemen, made good strides in restoring electric service to Cooperative members after a hard-hitting winter storm created more than 11,000 power outages.
On Saturday, CVEC crews assessed damage, cleared many, many downed trees along rural power lines and worked to keep the overall outage total from rising. Work was hindered by travel on secondary roads and mobility in off-road locations, where the majority of the CVEC power lines are located… most often in a 40-foot right-of-way corridor lined by tall trees.
On Sunday, crews continued to contend with mobility and off-road access issues, but reduced the overall number of outages to 5200, down from 9800 at the beginning of the day. One significant outage affected a major portion of Lake Monticello and surrounding Fluvanna County, caused by extensive damage to 4 utility poles carrying two major electric circuits. CVEC was able to replace the poles and re-energize those circuits before the end of the day, restoring power for 2300 Cooperative members. The difficulty of work conditions cannot be overstated according to onsite personnel.
The Whitehall substation located in western Albemarle County was restored to service on Sunday along with the 1100 members served by that substation. Other progress was made in the western portion of the CVEC territory as well as in the southern portion of the 14-county territory. Once their work is complete, crews from Division 1 and Division 2 will move to assist fellow crews with power outages in Division 3, where the majority of outages remain. Division 3 serves Fluvanna, Louisa, Orange, and Goochland counties.
All areas will require a clean-up process as power is restored along the major circuits. Often service is lost on tap lines, single-phase lines that take off from the major circuits to serve small clusters of homes and businesses.
Here are the largest outage totals by CVEC substation. Many of these figures are actually lower and are being updated in our dispatch center:
· Hensons Store (Fluvanna/Louisa) 820 out of 1198 meters
· Ferncliff (Fluvanna/ Louisa/ Goochland) 635 out of 1069 meters
· Kidds Store (Southern Fluvanna) 609 out of 1886 meters
· Trevillians (Louisa/ Orange) 546 out of 702 meters
· Shannon Hill (Goochland/Fluvanna) 530 out of 610 meters
· Columbia (Fluvanna/Cumberland) 440 out of 461 meters
· Mount Rush (Buckingham) 397 out of 1428 meters
· Cunningham (Fluvanna) 383 out of 3729 meters
· Schuyler (Nelson/Buckingham/Alb) 257 out of 629 meters
· Cartersville (Cumb/Buck/Gooch) 239 out of 1264 meters
· Zions (Fluv/Louisa/Albemarle) 159 out of 2444 meters
· Centenary (Buckingham) 153 out of 1361 meters
· Cashs Corner (Louisa/Albemarle) 105 out of 601 meters
The remainders of outage are less than 100 meters in each of the remaining CVEC substations.
CVEC expects to put a large dent in these outage totals today and requests that members turn off their large appliances and electric heating systems when there is a power outage. This will help after lines are re-energized, reducing a potential for overloading the distribution system during cold load pickup.
Member should report outages by calling 800-367-2832 or online at www.forcvec.com. Members can follow power restoration progress on the CVEC website or the CVEC Facebook Page.
Sunday February 7, 6 PM: CVEC and other facilities in Fluvanna County (including the 911 center) have limited communications due to a power outage at the Century Link communications center in Palmyra (wish it were ours so we could address it). As a result our cell phone communications and data links are unavailable so we do not have all the information that we would otherwise.
Here is what we know at this hour. There are about 6000 CVEC member without power, down from 9800 this morning. CVEC is clearly at the bottom end of the impact area for this winter storm, which hammered our area and had more than 1 million without power in the region.
A lot of hard work yesterday and today is starting to produce results.
The Cunningham Substation area has 4 poles (that carry two major circuits) being replaced. Progress has been difficult but encouraging. CVEC may, repeat may, attempt to re-energize that line this evening. Work has been done along the lines to clear trees and ensure that the line willl hold when energized. Members can help by putting their major appliances into the off mode and them bringing those appliances online gradually once power is restored.
CVEC has received news that an additional 7 crews will be working tomorrow to help restore service on small tap lines where individual outages affect small clusters of CVEC members. These crews are from North Carolina and are finishing up repair efforts at Southside Electric Cooperative.
The Scottsville circuit out of the Kidds Store substation in southern Fluvanna has been restored after a number of attempts this weekend. Lets hope that it holds.
Major line clearing has been performed from the town of Orange, south toward the Trevillians substation. Another circuit to the south of Trevillians have been cleared. This paves the way for service restoration. Again, lets hope that repair efforts are sufficient to keep the line on.
Good progress has been made in the area served by the Curdsville substation south of Sprouses Corner in Buckingham, including the Shepherds area.
Ferncliff, Zion and Henson Store substations along I-64 are getting attention from repair crews but the communications outage limits our ability to report progress.
The area around Cartersville has seen good progress with many back in service. Work will continue to address tap lines that may need individual attention. Tap lines branch off the main powerlines and serve small clusters of homes and businesses.
That is what we have at this hour. Crews will work a full day and night tomorrow with reinforcements and re-deployed CVEC crews, many that will be cleaning up areas served by taplines where fuses have blown and individual trees may be affecting a small group of members.
Momentum has definitely shifted today and CVEC will work to get everyone back in service as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and support and thank you to the crews for their dedicated efforts.
Sunday, February 7, 3:30 PM: CVEC is offering the following update regarding power restoration efforts in 14 central Virginia counties:
- CVEC currently has 7200 members without electric service, down from 9800 at the beginning of the day.
- Repair work has been hampered by travel conditions and heavy snow at the repair sites, hindering mobility of mechanized equipment and slowing repair efforts.
- CVEC Division 1, serving the western section of the service territory on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge, has reduced outages to 200 members.
- CVEC Division 2, based in Appomattox and serving the southern section, have 1200 outages and are making good progress.
- Once service restoration is complete in Divisions 1 & 2, those crews will move to assist crews in Division 3.
- CVEC Division 3, based in Fluvanna and serving communities along I-64 has the greatest challenge:
- Travel and mobility at the job sites are impaired.
- A significant number of trees were discovered and cleared yesterday despite difficult conditions.
- The Cunningham substation, that serves a significant portion of Lake Monticello has four broken poles resulting in a large single outage. Repairs are underway and crews made progress this afternoon but their is no assurity that work will be complete today. Until work is complete more than 2100 members will be out of service.
- The Kidds Store substation has more than 900 without power. More work needs to be accomplished before services can be restored, as do the Ferncliff and Trevillians substation s
- Shannon Hill substation had a significant number of members put back into service.
Work will continue until late tonight and into Monday to put as many members back into service as soon as possible. Look for additional updates as progress occurs and throughout the day. Ongoing information is available at www.forcvec.con and the the CVEC FaceBook page.
Sunday, February 7, 12:00 PM: Here is the latest from CVEC regarding power restoration efforts. The current outage total is 8127 meters, down from 9800 at the beginning of the day. CVEC offers the following comments and information:
Be aware that the CVEC Outage Management Map may lag behind actual restoration progress. Because of the manner in which CVEC must put back on parts of circuits, the inputs into our outage management system take a little while. We have to go into the software model and separate parts of circuits that have been re-energized from those still needing work before we can show on the outage map the correct information regarding the actual field conditions. This creates some lag.
CVEC crews will re-energize the first section of the circuit from Shannon Hill substation in just a few minutes, and hopefully it will hold. We still have some downline work to do out of that station. The Co-op is making marginal progress in other areas, except around Kidds Store in southern Fluvanna County, where we have lost a circuit from last night and gone backwards. Dominion Virginia Power is checking its feed into the Columbia Metering Point in Cumberland County, which apparently went out again. The crews on the two circuits out of Cunningham, in Fluvanna County, with the four broken poles are making progress, though we have had a breakdown with a backhoe trying to clear a path into one of the poles.
In Division 2, CVEC has gotten most of the Mount Rush southwest circuit, in Buckingham County back on. We have picked up several taps near Shepherd’s Store. We have made marginal progress in other areas as well.
In Division 1, CVEC has half of the Red Hill substation, south of Charlottesville, re-energized and are working on a pole that will clear the rest. We have a couple of large taps out of Midway substation, near Crozet, we have gotten cleared up, but still more to go. At White Hall substation in western Albemarle County, we have a number of small taps that we are working on and restoring as we can get the trees cleared.
Look for additional updates as progress occurs and throughout the day. Ongoing information is available at www.forcvec.con and the the CVEC FaceBook page.
Sunday, February 7, 8:00 AM: The day started for CVEC crews when they arrived at the three division offices before 6:00 am. The first order of business is coordination of the work locations. We assign one local employee with each out-of-town crew to help with location, and to act as a liaison with our dispatchers to assure lines are not energized while another crew is actively working the same area.
One unique aspect of cooperative electric utilities nationwide is the sharing of crews in storm situations. Today we have 5 crews from Four Counties Electric Membership Corporation headquartered in Burgaw near the southeastern coast of North Carolina. We also have 2 crews from Lumbee River EMC headquartered in Red Springs south of Fayetteville. We have one crew from Central EMC in Sanford, southeast of Raleigh. These crews volunteered for storm duty, leaving their families to come lend a hand where another cooperative needs help. Over the years, CVEC has helped sister cooperatives in North Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana after major storms and hurricanes. There are more than 850 electric cooperatives across the U.S. and all of them pitch in to help each other from time to time, after they know that their home systems are in good working order.
We also have several tree cutting contractors and several more power line contractor crews helping today. Every hand we have has been called on, including some of our CVEC retirees who help in patrolling lines and guiding out-of-town crews. All of the workers started early with the intent of returning service to as many members as possible before the days ends, late tonight.
We still have over 10,000 members out of service. CVEC worked all day yesterday...clearing trees and repairing distribution line equipment. Despite our efforts, the outage level remained about even. Little did we know that adjoining utilities saw their outage totals rise considerably yesterday. Today, crews are being assigned in a manner that allows us to get the most services restored in the shortest amount of time today. In many cases, we have to start at the substations and work our way out the circuits restoring power as we go. The road conditions are better, but many of the work locations are off-road and the going will be tough. CVEC has encountered many, many downed trees...more than meet the eye from any location along the highways.
While we will be working as efficiently as possible, CVEC cannot guarantee that all services will be restored today, and we cannot be sure when service will be restored in any particular area. Yesterday, in many cases when we thought we had service restored, we found we had additional tree problems that required more time on the same circuits. For that reason, it is often impossible to have an accurate estimate for restoration.
CVEC advises its members that if they have special assistance needs, those members should contact their local emergency services offices in their home county. The Co-op thanks everyone for their patience and wants each member to know that the crews are working to get everyones electricity flowing again as quickly as possible.
Saturday, February 6, 10 PM: On Friday at 3 pm, CVEC had less than 50 accounts out of service. By 3 am, there were over 10,000 accounts out of power.
CVEC hase made good progress today in cutting literally hundreds of trees out of the lines and repairing poles, crossarms, and conductors. In many cases, as we tried to re-energize the lines, we only found further damage downline. In other cases, within hours after the restoration was complete, additional trees falling onto the lines caused further outages.
The crews have made some progress late today that we are still updating in the outage management system. Most of White Hall substation should be back on, though there are still a few taps that will not be on until tomorrow. As an example of the type of damage we are dealing with, one tap that is 38 poles long had 25 trees in the line that required clearing. The main circuit out of Midway has been re-energized, though we still have several taps in this area that will require work into tomorrow. On the other hand, our Red Hill delivery point, which had service restored in the late afternoon, went back out tonight and will probably be out until tomorrow.
In our Division 2 area, serving Appomattox, Buckingham, Gladstone, Pamplin, and Centenary, we made very slow progress. Lots of trees, many with conductors burned through that had to be repaired and pulled back into place. Many of the problems were in off road right-of-way requiring that the crews walk-in and perform all work manually since the power equipment could not maneuvered off road. The main circuit running southwest from Mount rush was restored at one point, only to lose two of the three phases later due to more trees falling into the line. There are at least four additional broken poles in the Division 2 that still need to be replaced.
In Division 3, all accounts in the Lake have been re-energized except those served by the 2 circuits that are on the four broken poles. One circuit out of Kidds Store has been restored several times with additional damage taking it back out each time. If it holds after the present repair efforts, that will restore service to as many as 800 more members tonight. Many, many trees have been cut out of the lines along Route 250 from Zions Crossroads to Gum Springs, and up to Trevillians, but there are many more to go. Most of that area will be without power at least until tomorrow. We have cleared trees from lines near Cartersville, but have made little progress in terms of reducing the outage numbers, which will require still more work tomorrow. Columbia might be re-energized tonight depending upon how some present repair efforts hold. There are poles broken on several circuits in addition to the ones at the Lake.
CVEC has cleared many areas, but there is much, much more to be done. Thanks for your patience.
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Saturday, February 6, 6:00 PM: It appears that CVEC has been doing well to hold outage levels even for the day. Many other electric utilities from around the Virignia have seen outages rise despite their best efforts since sunrise. Some utilities have seen the number of outages double and triple today. The comparison is no consolation for those without power, but it does tells us something about the nature and impact of this storm. This storm did not produce simple outages that could be resolved with an easy fix. Rather, it inflicted some heavy body blows to the the electric distribution system, causing prolonged pain and requiring extensive repair.
As of this report, outage levels have remained about the same throughout the day, despite the additional help of contractor crews and professional tree trimmers. CVEC is still attempting to reduce the outage levels tonight, but advises that a lot of work lies ahead tomorrow. Eight substations still have more than 500 meters (member households and businesses) without power. Some of the Saturday's efforts may pay off before the end of the day, but productivity decreases as temperatures and night falls.
CVEC has advised its members to have a backup plan for overnight accomodations if possible. The Co-op has also requested members who have electric service to help neighbors and friends that may be without power tonight. Please act on that advisory and request if you can. Call a friend and help a neighbor.
A compounding factor is the condition of secondary roads. Many still need attention and travel is not easy. A CVEC member has told us that she attempted to move her family but her vehicle got stuck in a ditch. These are the same travel conditions that are affecting CVEC repair crews on-road and off-road, slowing progress and requiring more manual labor to accomplish a task that could be done with a bucket truck or a digger derrick. If you do move from your home, take care when traveling on secondary roads.
Linemen will continue to work 16-18 hour shifts and they will receive reinforcements tomorrow. Ten crews and vehicles from North Carolina Cooperatives will be pitching in at daybreak to help CVEC crews restore power to Cooperative members. CVEC thanks its linemen for their efforts and its members for their patience. Crews will work tonight and tomorrow will be a better day.
Please call 800-367-2832 to report a new power outage. Members can also report an outage online or monitor the outage levels at www.forcvec.com.
Saturday, February 6, 2:00 PM: Power outages are down to about 9,000 affected members on the CVEC system from a high of 11,000 earlier this morning. That number has been holding, which is typical of when work is underway and prior to when repaired circuits are energized. It also signals that the impact of the weather has tapered off for now. While we wait for additional information, here is what we know and what we ask that members keep in mind:
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CVEC requests that members shut off their heating and major appliances during the outages to help with cold load pickup. Leave a few lights on to signal when power is restored and then turn on major appliance gradually to help bring up the distribution system.
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Crews are arriving from other states to help CVEC with restoration efforts. That signals that there will be work for them for the rest of the day and tomorrow at a minimum.
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CVEC members should have a back up plan if their power is not restored today. If they have an alternative source of heat, they might want to stay put. If not, they might want to find a place to stay overnight, until electric service is restored.
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Progress has been reported from some areas. The Whitehall substation (1048 members out) has had a crew making repairs and they might attempt to energize the line soon. Members can help by shutting off appliances. Once the line is energized, it might hold and deliver electricity to the end of the circuit or a downline fault might kick off a section or all of the line. There is no way to be sure if the line will hold. If the line does not hold, then crews will move downline and make repairs as they go and restore service to individual line sections.
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Work is also occuring near the Cunningham substation (2334 members out now, down from a high of 3400 out). Multiple poles were broken along the overhead line as it left the substation. Once repairs occur, crews will attempt to energize the line. The good news is that most of the circuits are underground in Lake Monticello and that will help. Members are reminded to shut off appliances.
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Lastly, CVEC has many crews in the field concentrating on work that is difficult and dangerous. The Co-op will err in favor of not distracting them and trust that they are working as efficiently as possible. Given this choice and the nature of the power restoration process, it is not possible to provide estimates of power restoration... as much as we would like to provide that to each member. CVEC does know that this outage will affect some members into tomorrow and possible Monday. We will know more by the end of the day.
CVEC thanks it members for their patience and assistance during this weather related outages. Cooperative members can report outages by calling 800-367-2832 or online at www.forcvec.com. They can also receive updates and information at the CVEC website and on the CVEC FaceBook page.
Saturday, February 6, 10:30 AM: Central Virginia Electric Cooperative is experiencing multiple outages over its entire service area, which extends form the Town of Orange south almost to Farmville, and from the Blue Ridge Parkway east to Gum Springs. There are more than 10,000 (you can put in the actual number here) accounts without service. Here are some particulars and things to keep in mind:
In many cases lines are down and poles are broken due to the heavy snow and mixed precipitation accumulations on trees. The weather conditions will hinder crews as they try to maneuver along secondary roads and in off road rights-of-way. At Lake Monticello in Fluvanna County, four consecutive poles are broken along a line that normally carry two circuits serving more than 1500 accounts. There are many other areas with broken poles and crossarms, or with conductors down.
The public should avoid all downed conductors and never cut a tree that is in contact with a power line. Call CVEC at (800) 367-2832 to report any dangerous conditions of this type.
Members can assist with restoration efforts by cutting off all electric equipment including heat. When electricity is restored, the electric devices should be turned on slowly over time to avoid overloading circuits.
All crews have been dispatched and additional crews from other utilities and from contractors are on the way to assist with restoration efforts.
Given the number of outages, the widespread nature, and the weather conditions, outages in some areas may last several days. CVEC members should make plans for safe shelter during the restoration period given the expected very low temperatures that will follow the storm. For many, power will be restored before you have to move to another location, but it is important to be prepared as power restoration efforts will not be completed for everyone today or tomorrow given the scope and severity of the storm damage.
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Saturday, February 6, as of 7:30 AM: CVEC has seen the member outages rise to 11,000 meters, or 1 out of 3 member homes and businesses. Zions substation in norwestern Fluvanna saw an increase in outages numbers, while the outage levels in other substation areas have not yet decreased. Crews are working to clear downed trees and repair the powerlines. Hope that the present outage levels don't increase and that the linemen can get the power back on as quickly as possible. View the Web Outage Status Map and the outage levels by substation:
http://www.outageentry.com/dvosm/dvOSM2.php?Client=cvec
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Saturday, February 6, as of 5:00 AM: CVEC reports that outage totals have risen in the early morning hours to 9664 meters without power. More than 3400 meter outages are reported in the Cunningham Substation in Fluvanna County, as well as almost 1500 meters are out in Kidds Store substation in southern Fluvanna County. These two substation cause the overall outage total to rise by almost 5000.
Another other 1600 member outages are located in the Whitehall Substation (900+) in western Albemarle County and 600 in the Schuyler substation in Nelson County.
The other 3000 meter outages are distributed throughout a good portion of the other CVEC substations. The Hensons Store and Ferncliff substations (along I -64) each has more than 400 affected member homes and business. In Buckingham County, the Mount Rush Substation has several hundred out of power as does the Columbia Metering Point in Cumberland County.
While the projected accumulation figures have not been realized in many areas, what has arrived is a heavy, wet snow that adds considerable weight to tree branches, producing significant power outages from downed trees that fall into power lines. Look for an update around 7 AM and know that the CVEC crews are working to repair the lines and restore CVEC members electric service as soon as safely possible.
additional information is available at www.forcvec.com.
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As of 9:30 PM, CVEC has 2800 meters without power. Heavy,wet snow and wind continue to drop trees that are rooted in very saturated soil. The outages are located along the eastern side of the moutains from Whitehall, south to Nellsyford. Another group of outages run along both sides of Route 15 in Buckingham and Fluvanna Counties.
CVEC crews have been working to keep up with problems on the distribution system under difficult and dangerous conditions. This has been a troublesome storm and will require alot more work to get everyone's service restored.
Look for additional updates until power is restored, which is going to take a concerted effort through Saturday. Additional information is available on the CVEC Outage Status Map.
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As of 7:00 PM, CVEC has 2466 meters (homes & businesses) without power, including:
