4,200 from the original storm remain without power
Star Staff Reports
On Saturday, MLGW crews worked through the night and continued through the weekend.
MLGW found several underground faults that require repair before full restoration can be made to all customers who can take power.
“Underground faults are tricky to locate and take more time to fix. Because of this, restoration times are hard to estimate. It’s frustrating. We get it. But, know that we have not forgotten you and will keep working until you are back on,” said Doug McGowen, President and CEO of MLGW.
“Customers may not see workers in their neighborhood, but our crews are working on areas of the system that bring power to your neighborhood. We’ve added additional tree trimmers and our warehouses are stocked with cable, poles, transformers and other equipment to make all necessary repairs. Safety remains a top priority as crews work around the clock in extreme heat. If our area gets heavy precipitation today, it will slow the effort.”
As a reminder, customers already restored may experience temporary interruptions in their electrical service as we reroute electrical power and make repairs on various circuits. This morning the outage map shows 6,500-7,000 out, the difference being other outages that have happened during this restoration effort: hit poles, failed transformers, blown fuses and dropped partial circuits as a result of rerouting power. We understand that this is especially frustrating for customers who waited days for their power to be restored.
Repeat Outage Reporting: Customers should continue to call to report their outage and not assume we are aware of their outage. Often, an outage at the circuit or distribution line level will mask another outage at the fuse, transformer or service drop level. When the circuit is successfully repaired, the system may not automatically detect an outage downstream.
Further, customers may have localized damage, like equipment down in their backyard. Also, some customers may have damage to their weatherheads. The weatherhead is usually located above the roofline or attached to the gable or side of the house where the customer’s wiring connects to MLGW’s electric lines. The weatherhead is the homeowner’s property and therefore is not maintained by MLGW. If it is damaged, a customer must have it repaired by a licensed electrician and inspected by Code Enforcement before MLGW can restore power.
Important Notices/Reminders:
• Find the City’s Extreme Heat Services here: https://www.memphistn.gov/news/extreme-heat-service-update-june-28-2023-2/ or Call 211.
• Customers who currently receive SNAP can apply for replacement benefits at https://www.tn.gov/humanservices/for-families/tdhs-disaster-emergency-assistance.html.
• An MLGW emergency response dashboard is online at http://www.mlgw.com/stormresponse.
• Please always call 528-4465 to report emergencies like downed power lines and gas leaks. MLGW asks customers to stay away from downed power lines. DO NOT TOUCH or cut limbs across power lines. They could be energized (hot).
• MLGW customers can report power outages and check the status of their outage through My Account or by calling the automated outage number: 544-6500. Customers can also check the online outage map: mlgw.com/outagecenter.
