Crews Working to Determine Time Frame for Power Cable Repairs

Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative (CHEC) continues restoration efforts in the wake of a transmission outage caused when PCL Construction accidently drove a steel casing into the cooperative’s underground transmission cable on Thursday morning, July 27.On Friday, PCL Construction worked to excavate the ground and set a trench box to reach the damaged transmission cables. A hydro-vacuum truck was used to carefully locate the transmission cables without causing further damage. At the time of press, dewatering the trench was still ongoing and the cables were not visible enough to make an assessment of the damage. PCL and cooperative crews will work 24/7 until the repair is made.

CHEC will continue to supply temporary power through the Buxton diesel generator and portable generators until the transmission repairs are complete. These generators will only be able to run if load is at minimal levels and everyone is conserving.

Nine 2-megawatt portable generators arrived on the island by Friday afternoon. Four of the generators arrived with transformers that were not compatible. Four replacement transformers are expected to arrive on the island late Friday night. 

Once the replacement transformers arrive, crews will work to hook the remaining generators up to the grid, allowing the cooperative to provide more temporary power.

Hatteras Island is currently under a mandatory power conservation order, requiring all members and visitors to remove air conditioning systems and hot tub heaters from the power grid by turning off system circuit breakers.

For further updates, follow Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative on Facebook and Twitter and tune in to Radio Hatteras (99.9/101.5FM).