Contact: NOVEC Public Relations, 1-888-335-0500, customerservice@novec.com
MANASSAS, Va. — Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative crews are working to restore power to thousands of customers in Northern Virginia after ice caused trees to fall on power lines on Monday, December 9.
A tree that fell on a Dominion Virginia Power transmission line just before 7 a.m. on December 9 disrupted service to eight NOVEC substations in Prince William and Stafford counties and interrupted service to more than 20,000 NOVEC customers. DVP crews worked to reroute power after isolating the tree-affected section of the line and restored service to NOVEC’s substations at 9:13 a.m.
“NOVEC thanks Dominion for quickly diagnosing the problem and switching to another source to restore the transmission service,” said Larry Shaffer, NOVEC vice president of System Operations.
NOVEC, contract, and out-of-state crews are working to restore power to other storm-affected customers in Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford counties.
“We’ve got all crews out in the field,” Shaffer said. “We’re hoping to restore service to all customers by Tuesday morning, if not sooner.” Customers can obtain outage information on NOVEC’s website at http://stormcenter.novec.com.
NOVEC warns customers not to go anywhere near a downed power line because it could be energized and deadly. Also, customers should never run power generators indoors because they could create deadly carbon monoxide. A large generator should only be connected to the power grid by a qualified electrician because an incorrectly connected generator could kill line technicians who are working on the system.
Preparing for More Snow and Outages
With more snow in the forecast for December 10, NOVEC encourages all customers to prepare for additional outages. Customers should register their phone numbers with the Co-op by calling 703-335-0500 or 1-888-335-0500 and follow the prompts on the Interactive Voice Recognition system. Shaffer says the IVR system cannot identify customers’ addresses if they have not tied their numbers to their locations.
NOVEC reminds customers to:
- Charge cellphones: Cordless phones don’t work when power is out.
- Develop a plan for elderly or disabled family members.
- Have an emergency kit with non-perishable food, water, flashlights with fresh batteries, battery-operated radio, lanterns, canned fuel, matches, and first aid. If applicable, have enough prescription drugs, pet food, and baby-care items. • Stock up on firewood for a wood-burning fireplace or stove. Cover wood with a tarp or stack it in a carport to keep it from being buried by snow.
- Report an outage to NOVEC by calling 703-335-0500 or 1-888-335-0500. The IVR system will provide updates. Customers with access to the Internet can report outages at www.novec.com on computers and www.novec.com/mobile on smartphones. They can also use NOVEC’s smartphone application available in the app store. Do NOT report outages via social media because those sites aren’t connected to the reporting system.
- Open freezers and refrigerators only when necessary.
- Open exterior doors only when necessary.
- Use camp stoves or grills outdoors to avoid carbon-monoxide poisoning.
