KNOXVILLE, TN – Monday Afternoon, December 13
Tennessee Valley Authority personnel continue to make progress on repairing damage to TVA’s transmission system from weekend storms. The number of consumers without power has been reduced by 85% over Saturday’s peaks.
Since Saturday, TVA and local power company crews:
- Restored 14 of 21 impacted customer connection points – the interface between TVA’s transmission system and local power company distribution systems – in northwestern Tennessee and western Kentucky. Work continues on restoring the final seven connection points.
- Completed engineering to support repairs on 29 impacted transmission lines.
In the aftermath of the storms, nearly 250,000 consumers were without power in TVA’s service area. By noon Monday, the number had been reduced to just over 38,500.
More than 160 TVA line workers, additional contractor crews and TVA Aviation Services helicopter crews remain focused on repairing or replacing 97 transmission towers and poles and miles of transmission line to fully restore power in the impacted area. The storms were the most destructive to impact the region since the April 2011 tornado outbreak.
The region’s public power system is a partnership between TVA and local power companies. TVA’s transmission system delivers power to connection points with local power companies, whose own distribution systems supply power directly to homes and businesses. Both systems must be operational to safely provide reliable electricity.
Due to the extent of the damage in some areas, TVA is unable to provide any specific time for full restoration. The need to repair both TVA’s transmission system and local power company distribution systems may lead to longer restoration times.
Tuesday Morning, December 14
Tennessee Valley Authority personnel restored power to three additional customer connection points overnight as teams continue to work around the clock to repair damage to TVA’s transmission system from weekend storms.
Connection points are the interface between TVA’s transmission system and local power company distribution systems. Since Saturday, TVA has restored 17 of the 21 connection points serving local power companies impacted by the storms in northwest Tennessee and western Kentucky. One additional connection point serving a TVA direct-served industrial customer remains out of service.
The number of consumers without power has been reduced by more than 85% over Saturday’s peaks. More than 160 TVA line workers, additional contractor crews and TVA Aviation Services helicopter crews remain focused on repairing or replacing 97 transmission towers and poles and miles of transmission line to fully restore power in the impacted area. Hundreds of additional TVA employees are working across the region to support the field teams’ efforts.
The region’s public power system is a partnership between TVA and local power companies. TVA’s transmission system delivers power to connection points with local power companies, whose own distribution systems supply power directly to homes and businesses. Both systems must be operational to safely provide reliable electricity.
The storms were the most destructive to impact the region since the April 2011 tornado outbreak. Due to the extent of the damage in some areas, TVA is unable to provide any specific time for full restoration. The need to repair both TVA’s transmission system and local power company distribution systems may lead to longer restoration times.
Tuesday Afternoon, December 14
Tennessee Valley Authority and local power company personnel have restored power to more than 226,000 consumers since weekend storms caused outages across a wide area of northwest Tennessee and western Kentucky.
On Tuesday, crews restored another customer connection point – the interface between TVA’s transmission system and local power company distribution system – serving Pennyrile Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, as well as a connection point for one of TVA’s direct-served industrial customers. Since Saturday, 18 of the 21 impacted connection points serving seven different local power companies have been restored.
TVA crews are focused on returning the final three connection points to service, which impact areas near Mayfield, Ky., and Lexington, Tenn. In
both areas, storms damaged transmission towers that must be cleared and rebuilt before power lines can be safely re-energized. In addition, extensive damage to the Mayfield Electric and Water Systems’ own distribution network may slow restoration effort to residents in that area.
More than 160 TVA line workers, additional contractor crews and TVA Aviation Services helicopter crews remain in the field working to restore power. Hundreds of additional TVA employees are working across the region to support the field teams’ efforts.
The region’s public power system is a partnership between TVA and local power companies. TVA’s transmission system delivers power to connection points with local power companies, whose own distribution systems supply power directly to homes and businesses. Both systems must be operational to safely provide reliable electricity.
The storms were the most destructive to impact the region since the April 2011 tornado outbreak. Due to the extent of the damage in some areas, TVA is unable to provide any specific time for full restoration. The need to repair both TVA’s transmission system and local power company distribution systems may lead to longer restoration times.
The safety of TVA’s team members, emergency responders and the public remains the highest priority. Residents are reminded that any downed power line should always be considered energized and dangerous. Local power companies should be contacted to report downed lines. If a local power company cannot be reached, alert local law enforcement personnel or emergency responders.
Media Release/Geraldine Gallman/TVA Public Relations
