Energy officials confirmed on Wednesday that hundreds of power substations were out of service in North Carolina and South Carolina due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. The power outage situation has been described as a “grid apocalypse.”
In a Wednesday statement on X, formerly Twitter, Duke Energy announced, “Approximately 370 substations were out of service from the storm in the Duke Energy Carolinas service area. For those that were damaged and can’t be repaired in a timely manner – mobile substations will be installed to allow us to restore service as soon as it is safe to do so.”
Duke Energy shared pictures of the damage sustained by power grids in the North Carolina and South Carolina region on social media. Bill Norton, a Duke Energy spokesperson, explained, “With water levels coming down, we are starting to see some of this damage. We had entire substations that were under water.”
As of Friday morning, Poweroutage.US indicated that there were still more than 700,000 power outages in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, in addition to some remaining power outages in Florida and Virginia.
Zero Hedge shared additional pictures of the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene alongside the caption, “Grid Apocalypse Hits Carolinas: 360 Substations Down, Power Restoration Could Take ‘Months.'”
According to Zero Hedge, reports of transformer shortages and other power grid component shortages have been met with sharp criticism of the Biden-Harris administration, especially as the United States has contributed significant amounts of funding and resources to other countries, such as Ukraine.
Dan Caldwell, a public policy advisor, tweeted, “We do not have this equipment readily available because we have shipped large quantities of transformers and other electrical equipment to Ukraine. Both our military and non-military support for Ukraine has left us less prepared for domestic disasters like Hurricane Helene.”
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Caldwell’s warning comes as The Associated Press reported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said it does not have adequate funding to make it through the remainder of the hurricane season.
Jesse D. Jenkins, a macro-energy systems engineering and policy expert at Princeton University, posted on X, “This is devastating. We do NOT have 360 substations worth of transformers and other electrical equipment sitting in stockpiles waiting to be deployed. It could take a very long time to restore power to everyone. Are we facing a Hurricane Maria-type impact on grid infrastructure?”
Despite concerns regarding the restoration of power in the region, Duke Energy assured residents on Thursday, “Thousands of workers have traveled to the areas hit the hardest by #Helene to rebuild infrastructure and restore power.”
In another statement on Thursday, Duke Energy announced, “90% of customer outages in South Carolina and North Carolina will be restored Friday. In S.C., the company is on track to restore an additional 134,000 customers by Friday evening, with the remaining 85,000 in the hardest-hit areas by Sunday.”
