For Immediate Release
Contact: Public Affairs 1-800-562-9308
SCE&G Customers May Experience Short Outages Due to System Demand Caused by Extreme Cold Weather
CAYCE, S.C. (Jan. 7, 2014) – Due to the extremely cold weather in our area, SCE&G is experiencing high demand on its electric system and has lost part of its generating capacity due to weather driven mechanical issues at several of its power plants.
In order to protect the stability of the electric system and to continue to meet customers’ needs, SCE&G has implemented rolling blackouts throughout its service territory. Customers in some areas may experience short periods of time without power. These outages will last approximately 15 minutes. Customers should turn off and unplug non-essential appliances and conserve energy as much as possible.
SCE&G will not be able to alert customers to the exact time or if their power will be affected, but SCE&G encourages customers to be aware that power outages should last for no more than 15 minutes. This is a dynamic situation and SCE&G will continue to manage this situation so that its customers are minimally affected.
Other utilities up and down the East Coast are experiencing similar situations.
Our call centers are experiencing heavy volume, so customers need to be aware that they can also report outages on our website at sceg.com/storm or through their mobile device at sceg.com/mobile. To report power outages, customers can call 1-888-333-4465. SCE&G’s online outage map can be found at http://www.sceg.com/en/storm-center/outage-map/. In addition to the rolling blackouts, SCE&G is responding to other weather-related outages across the system that may last for a longer time.
