A recent statement from Duke Energy revealed that about half of the power outages in upstate South Carolina and the mountains of North Carolina, caused by the impact of Helene, will require significant replacement of infrastructure. The company stated that the situation has shifted from a repair and restore effort to a major asset replacement and construction endeavor.
Due to the unprecedented nature of the storm, there are still areas that Duke Energy has not been able to access to assess the damage. Currently, around 640,000 customers in the Carolinas are without power. While it remains unclear how many of these customers will be affected by the infrastructure replacement, Duke Energy aims to have the majority of its customers' power restored by Friday.
Although Duke Energy did not provide a specific timeline for the restoration of power to the hardest-hit areas, the company assured that it would update these customers on restoration times as soon as they become available.
