Contact: Priscilla Knight, 703-392-1580, pknight@novec.com
MANASSAS, VA, April 16, 2007—Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) crews are working against high-velocity winds in order to restore power to approximately 2,000 customers in Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford Counties. The outage number fluctuates with the wind. Most of the outages are in Fairfax, Prince William and Fauquier counties. Most outages affect fewer than 50 customers, but some outages are affecting between 100 and 500 customers.
NOVEC crews have been working around the clock to restore power since Sunday night when heavy rain and wind caused the first outage at 9:28 p.m. NOVEC requested extra crews on Monday, April 16, 2007 from Virginia's statewide electric cooperative organization in order to restore power as soon as possible.
Weather reports predict winds will intensify today and tonight, with wind gusting up to 60 miles per hour. Therefore, NOVEC anticipates more outages. Most of the outages have been caused by wind-whipped trees and limbs falling on electric lines.
NOVEC's outage map on its Web site's home page provides up-to-the-minute outage status reports, including anticipated restoration times. Log onto www.novec.com and click on the map.
Customers without power should call NOVEC's interactive voice response system at 703-335-0500 or toll-free 1-888-335-0500 to report an outage. They should follow the prompts. They should call on their land-line home phone if possible.
