CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It is the peak of the 2020 hurricane season, and it’s possible the tropics could turn out a system that could impact the Carolinas. In light of that, Duke Energy is busy upgrading some of its infrastructure in south Charlotte neighborhoods that get frequent outages.
Hurricanes, and even just a strong afternoon thunderstorm, can do an awful lot of damage to homes, cars, and of course the power grid. Charlotte is a tree city, but those trees can keep people in the dark for days when they land on the power lines.
"We know how important it is for people to have reliable service when they are working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, so we wanted to perform this maintenance now," Meghan Miles of Duke Energy said.
Duke Energy line crews have been busy replacing power poles and lines in addition to trimming trees in neighborhoods like Stonehaven and Providence Plantation in the south Charlotte area — places that are prone to outages during storms.
“Just in providence plantation alone there have been 10 outages in the last two years,” Miles said.
The large mature trees are an appealing selling point for many in the Providence Plantation neighborhood, but they also require routine maintenance. Even underground lines, which many think are a better solution, can go out and therefore require maintenance.