Thursday Update: After more than 80 hours of restoration work, we have restored power to all but a handful of members impacted by the blizzard! We know it has been a long week for those without power and we’re so glad the lights are back on across Kent and Sussex counties. Thank you to our members for their patience and support! Thank you to our friends at Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative and Northern Neck Electric Cooperative for traveling from Virginia to help us out. Thank you to the City of Dover, Rock Creek Line Construction, Bayline Construction, Asplundh and American Traffic Control for their tireless efforts. Finally, thank you to our amazing employees who were there for members during the worst storm in 30 years. Our team didn’t complain, worked in dangerous conditions and got the job done. To our employees, please get some well-deserved rest! And to our members who lost power, we appreciate the prayers, encouraging comments and grace. We’re so grateful to you all.
Now that full-scale restoration work is complete, our team will spend the next week replacing poles and electrical equipment that may have been damaged in the storm but did not cause outages. You may continue to see crews working across our system as we make additional repairs to strengthen the grid. There is also a possibility that trees weakened by the storm could still fall onto power lines, causing isolated outages. Our lineworkers and tree-trimming crews cleared everything they could find within the right-of-way, but after a storm of this magnitude, some minor issues are expected. The work of our DEC team isn’t finished yet. We will continue responding to any outage reports we receive and remain committed to ensuring reliable service for our members.
Wednesday Evening Update: Dozens of Co-op crews and our friends from Virginia got help from a City of Dover crew today restoring power to more than 2,000 homes. With about 800 homes left without power, we’ll work through the night to repair damage and still expect full restoration tomorrow. Crews from out of state will keep working until all members have their lights back on. During this storm, we’ve used every resource at our disposal to help us restore power – local farmers cleared snow off roads and several retired DEC lineworkers even jumped in to help pinpoint problems on the grid.
Wednesday Update: After restoring power to 5,000 homes last night, our team of line workers from across the Mid-Atlantic are lined up this morning and heading back out for 16-hour shifts! We’ve restored power now to 95% of homes that lost power during the storm, and we are now focused on safely getting the lights back on to the remaining 2,800 homes still in the dark. It’s been a long couple of days for those without power and we’re doing everything we can to get service restored. Here are this morning’s updates.
• We now have additional crews from Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative, Northern Neck Electric Cooperative, and local contractors and tree trimmers working to restore power. We can’t thank them enough for answering our call for help!
• We hope to restore power to 1-2,000 homes by late tonight with full restoration at some point tomorrow.
• There are still many damage reports across our system, and crews will spend the day removing trees from lines at hundreds of homes across Kent and Sussex Counties.
•If you lose power, please report your outage by calling 855-332-9090 or use the outage reporting portal https://outagetrouble.delaware.coop/. If you have already reported your outage, you do not need to report it again.
• View our live outage map here: https://outagemap.delaware.coop/
Despite so many members being without power for so long, we have been overwhelmed by encouraging comments and messages, and we are so appreciative of your patience as we respond to the worst storm we’ve experienced in more than 30 years. We’ll continue to be transparent and provide another update later today.
Tuesday Night Update: Dozens of crews from our Co-op, contractors and neighboring electric cooperatives were hard at work today, restoring power to more than 16,000 homes. They removed trees, replaced poles and restrung power lines. This incredible team has restored power to more than 56,000 homes since the storm began. We haven’t seen tree damage like this since the ice storm in 1994. Despite the damage, we are making steady progress and even more crews from neighboring utilities will join us to assist with restoration tomorrow. We’re using all resources available to us to restore power – we know members without power are anxious and eager for their lights to come back on. Here are important updates from today.
• Safety remains our top priority. Please stay far away from any downed power lines and assume they are energized. Do not approach or drive over them. If you see a line that is sparking or actively arcing, call 911 immediately.
• Hundreds of utility workers are doing everything possible to safely restore power around the clock.
• We hope to restore power to about 2,000 additional homes by Wednesday morning.
• It will take several more days for power to be restored to all members. There are still 800 individual damage reports across our system, meaning crews will need to remove hundreds of trees, replace dozens of poles and fix damaged equipment. This is slow, tedious work.
• We’ve heard from members who wish we were able to provide more detailed restoration information. Due to the amount of damage reports and uncertainty about the scope of that damage across the system, we are unable to offer accurate individualized restoration times – this would only increase member frustration. While we are working as fast as safely possible, members should continue to plan for the possibility of being without power for several more days. We’ll continue to update members as our crews send damage reports from the field.
• We restore power in a process that is standard across the nation. Crews must assess damage, then repair major transmission lines and substations that serve thousands of members before moving to main distribution lines, neighborhood tap lines and finally service to individual homes. This approach restores the greatest number of members as safely and efficiently as possible. Because of how the electric system is designed, restoration does not always move street by street. Neighboring homes may be served by different circuits, which can result in one home being restored before another. It’s a complicated process, and we know it’s frustrating to see a nearby home restored while your lights are still out. We want to be clear: restoration decisions are not based on neighborhoods, locations or preferences.
• The outage map displayed on the DEC Connect App may not be accurate, but this map shows live outages: https://outagemap.delaware.coop/ We apologize for the issue and are working to fix the problem.
Our crews live and work in this community, and many of their homes are also without power. They will continue to work until every member’s power is restored. We’ll provide another update in the morning.
Tuesday Midday Update: Crews restored power to 10,000 additional homes overnight and have restored power to 40,000 homes since the storm began on Sunday. DelDot and local farmers were great partners, helping us clear roads, which allowed our team to get a better idea of how much damage there is to the system. Our crews and engineers say damage is more extensive than initially thought, especially in the most rural parts of our service territory. This means restoration may take longer than we had hoped yesterday evening. Here’s the most important information from our operations team.
• Additional crews were called in from multiple Virginia utilities last night and are working across our system today.
• Additional Delaware contractors were also called in to assist with restoration efforts.
• Crews are working on the last major circuit outages right now impacting thousands of members in the Angola and Broadkill areas. Many members in those areas should have service restored later today.
• Outside of those areas, there are roughly 800 different damage reports across our service territory that our crews will need to address. These issues include hundreds of downed trees and power lines and more than 30 broken poles.
• These issues are impacting anywhere from one home to a few hundred.
• We hope to restore power to about 10,000 additional homes by this evening, but outages will likely continue into Wednesday and possibly Thursday.
• We have understandably been getting a lot of questions from members about estimated restoration times for their homes. With hundreds of damage reports across the system, we cannot offer individualized restoration times. We know it’s frustrating and we’ll continue to be as transparent as possible and pass along what information we have.
• This is the worst outage event we’ve experienced since the 1994 ice storm and, for many members, this is the longest they have been without power. These types of storms are rare. When they do hit, they cause extensive damage to our system.
• As our team works around the clock to restore power, please consider checking on friends and neighbors who may be without power and help in any way you can.
• Warming shelters have been opened for those who need assistance at Dover High School and Sussex Central Middle School.
• Our outage map groups individual outages into larger outages in a large-scale event like this, which means the map may not show your individual outage after you’ve reported it. That doesn’t mean we’re unaware of your outage. The outage map displayed on the DEC Connect App may not be accurate, but this map shows live outages. https://outagemap.delaware.coop/ We apologize for the issue and are working to fix the problem.
Our team is so appreciative of the support we’ve gotten from our communities, and we will continue to work 24/7 until all members have their power restored. We’ll provide another update from crews later today.
7:00 p.m. Monday Outage Restoration Estimates: Our friends at Rappahannock Electric Cooperative have joined our Delaware-based contract crews and 185 Co-op employees to help restore power to our members! We now have some more detailed estimated restoration times to help you make appropriate plans. Please remember these are estimates and can change. There were hundreds of trees down across power lines and it took us a good part of the day to survey the damage and to make sure equipment was safe enough to reenergize.
- All major circuit outages impacting more than 500 or so members have been assigned to a crew and lineworkers are either on site, or will have a team onsite this evening. Our goal is to restore most of these outages tonight. We anticipate the circuit fixes in the areas below to restore power to about 60 percent of members currently without power. We cannot offer estimates for every road, town, area or specific addresses. Please note, if crews encounter additional issues, these outages may persist until tomorrow.
- We hope to restore power to members near (in no particular order): Angola by the Bay, Swann Keys, Camp Barnes, West Bay, Zoar, Hollyville, Old Furnace Road, Hazlettville Road, Stonewater Creek, Trap Pond, Cool Springs, Sandtown and Rt. 10, Sherwood Acres, Senators, Gills Neck Road, Laurel Road and areas near Gumboro and Millsboro, Conley’s Chapel, Banks Road and Rt. 24. Chappel Lane, Pyle Center and Redden Road. Members who are part of smaller outages not included on the list above should expect power to be restored at some point tomorrow. We dedicate resources to fixing problems that restore power to the greatest number of homes first and then begin fixing problems impacting smaller groups of members.
- If crews run into problems fixing issues associated with these smaller outages tomorrow, a few members may not have power restored until Wednesday morning. This is a worst-case scenario and will work to avoid this at all costs.
Our crews have been working hard because we know no one wants to lose power, especially when it’s cold. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we’re hopeful that by this time tomorrow, restoration work will be nearly complete. Thank you to our dedicated employees and our supporting members. We’ll provide another update tomorrow morning.
2:30 p.m. Blizzard Update: Our team has restored power to 13,000 homes so far today, and additional reinforcements will arrive shortly. Crews from Rappahannock Electric Cooperative in Virginia will soon be dispatched across our service territory to assist with restoration efforts and to help us better determine possible restoration times. We’ll provide a more detailed update around 6 p.m. and we expect thousands of additional members to have power restored over the coming hours.
11:30 a.m. Monday Blizzard Update: Our team has restored power to two circuits and roughly 5,000 homes over the past hour. The pictures below show the type of damage we are encountering! As we warned before the storm, restoration work will be slow and dangerous for our team. This was a historic storm for our Co-op and DEC’s rural service territory experienced the most severe impacts associated with the blizzard. This is now the second worst storm our Co-op has faced, with only the 1994 ice storm being more severe. A lot of members have asked why we are unable to provide estimated restoration times. We cannot provide times until damage assessment is complete. Giving inaccurate times only causes more frustration. Before repairs begin, every impacted area must be inspected to ensure it is safe to re-energize. As soon as we have reliable information, we will share it. We can say some of the longest outages may last days.
- While our team is working hard to restore power, a few things are hindering progress.
- Many roads are still not passable and we’re working with DelDot to get roads cleared where we have major outages.
- Trees continue to fall in some areas and take down lines our crews just repaired
- Working in 20” of heavy wet snow slows the progress of our crews.
Thank you so much for your patience, our team will be working around the clock to restore power!
8:30 a.m. Monday Blizzard Update: After temporarily pausing restoration efforts for the safety of our crews overnight, full restoration work is once again underway! Snow is still falling and winds are still strong, but the worst of the storm is finally winding down. Now, the very difficult process of getting the lights back on begins. Employees are out in the field now identifying issues, downed trees and damaged equipment. That information will be relayed to our dispatchers, and, by mid-morning, our team of line workers and contract utility and tree trimming crews will be out working as fast as they can to restore power. With about 54,000 homes without power, full restoration may take days. Ten additional crews are also on their way to help us from Virginia. Please know, we’re doing everything in our power to work quickly and safely. By this afternoon, we hope to be able to provide more detailed information here on Facebook and on our website about which areas may have power restored today. We’re focusing on fixing damage that is impacting thousands of homes first, and will then move on to issues impacting fewer members. Due to the extent of outages, we cannot offer estimated restoration times right now and will not be able to answer every question or comment here. Hang in there folks, we’re doing the best we can
5:30 a.m. Monday Blizzard Update: We’re facing an absolute mess this morning across Kent and Sussex Counties. Heavy snow and high winds will continue for a few more hours. With 50,000 homes in the dark, our crews have their work cut out for them. We estimate the damage to our system to be worse than what we experienced during the 2010 blizzards. Countless trees, powerlines and utility poles are down across our service territory. Many of the back roads are not accessible to our trucks yet and conditions are still dangerous. Shortly, our employees will begin assessing the damage and start what we expect to be a slow and difficult process to restore power. We’ll be calling on our friends from neighboring Mid-Atlantic electric cooperatives to help us get the lights back – a process we think will take days. Until the storm winds down, we cannot offer specific estimated restoration times. We know our members are used to power being restored quickly and hope you’ll be patient with us as our crews and members face a daunting couple of days. Members should be prepared for extended outages. We’ll provide updates once we have a better understanding of the extent of the damage later this morning.
12:30 a.m. Monday Blizzard Update: Our crews have been braving extremely dangerous conditions to restore power this evening, and we’ve made the difficult decision to halt most restoration work until the storm winds down later this morning. We rarely make a decision like this, but we want our team to return home safely to their families after the storm. Crews are getting stuck, trees are falling around them, and roads are treacherous. With 32,000 homes without power, we know this is unwelcome news for members wondering when their lights will come back on. Ultimately, the safety of our crews is our top priority, and we hope our members understand and were prepared for prolonged outages.
Unfortunately, members who are currently without power — or who lose power overnight — will likely remain without service until tomorrow and possibly longer. Once the worst of the storm has passed, our team will be able to better assess the damage and begin the long restoration process. We expect to have a clearer estimate of restoration times as crews get back to work. This is the biggest winter storm we’ve seen since 2010, and restoration efforts will take time. Please keep our crews in your thoughts and know that we will do everything we can to restore power as soon as this dangerous blizzard has ended.
Important links and additional storm information can be found below.
9:30 P.M. Sunday Operational Update: The blizzard has arrived and heavy snow is causing trees and branches to fall across power lines. We have about 30,000 members without power across our service territory. This will not be a typical storm and blizzard conditions mean our crews are facing extremely dangerous travel conditions as they respond to outages. At some point tonight, we may pull our crews off the roads until conditions improve for their safety – our top priority. If you lose power tonight, please be prepared to be without power at least through tomorrow and maybe several days. Until roads are passable, we may not know the full extent of system damage and will not be able to provide hard restoration times. This may be the biggest winter storm we’ve seen since 2010, and restoration efforts will take time. While we may not be able to provide specific estimated restoration times for every outage, we will continue to share updates and important information here on Facebook throughout the storm. We understand that being without power in these severe conditions is difficult and concerning. Please know that all available resources are deployed and we are focused on restoring service as quickly as possible. Learn more about power outage safety tips HERE. Please stay away from down wires and electrical equipment -- they could still be energized and cause injury or death!
How to Report Outages:
If you do lose power during the storm, please report your outage by calling 855-332-9090 or by visiting https://outagetrouble.delaware.coop. You can also use the DEC App or your online SmartHub Account.
Outage Map:
Members can view current outages HERE. Please note, estimated restoration times may be less accurate during major storms. During major outage events, estimated restoration times may not be available. We’ll update the restoration times as we receive damage assessments from the field.
Cold Weather Shelters:
Shelters are now open at the following locations:
Dover High School, 1 Dover High Dr, Dover, DE 19904.
Sussex Central Middle School, 26026 Patriots Way, Georgetown DE 19947.
If you need a safe place to stay for any reason related to current conditions, the shelters are available. Staff are on-site and ready to assist.
Please consider bringing:
- Medications
- Personal hygiene items
Both shelters are pet-friendly. Be sure to bring your pet’s:
- Medications
- Food
- Leash
- Vaccination records
The shelters will remain open until further notice.
Outage Text Alerts:
DEC members can sign up to receive outage alerts via text message when your power goes out. You’ll also receive text messages when crews report an estimated restoration time for your outage and when power at your home or business is restored. Learn more HERE.
Food Safety During Outages:
Generator Safety Information:
