Almost 70,000 MLGW customers without electricity, says energy company | News
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – According to MLGW, thousands of Memphis Light Gas and Water customers were still in the dark Monday afternoon after storms swept through the Mid-South on the evening of Sunday, June 25.
As of 9:30 p.m. Monday, June 26, 69,482 customers were without power due to 628 outages, according to MLGW’s outage map.
“The further you go, you’re dealing with less and less outages,” MLGW CEO Dough McGowen told FOX1[ads1]3 on Monday. “Today, we’re still dealing with fairly large power outages.”
An MLGW spokesperson called the outage the sixth-worst in Memphis history and said earlier Monday that 52 additional crews were helping with restoration efforts.
WATCH: MLGW president talks to FOX13 after more than 100,000 customers lose power
According to MLGW, customers should prepare for restoration to take several days.
MLGW President Dough McGowen told FOX13 crews are in “damage assessment mode” and that customers could be without power for at least three days and possibly longer.
The utility said it had 45 contractor crews coming to help with the restoration efforts.
MLGW said in a media release that it had 69 electrical repair crews on site to repair damage, in addition to 35 troubleshooting crews, 47 tree trimming crews and 38 damage assessment crews.
MLGW also urged customers to conserve water until 5pm on Monday 26 June 2023.
Overnight, the company managed to restore power to 22,000 customers.
FOX13 crews noticed entire rows of power lines leaning sideways, including near the Kroger in Bartlett on Highway 64.
The MLGW customer said these outages are not unique to Bartlett and the surrounding area, noting how widespread the outages were caused by this storm.
Many customers, upset by frequent power outages, are often left in the dark by light rain and wind. But, McGowen said, the company’s infrastructure improvement plan will solve most of those problems.
When FOX13 pressed McGowen on the company’s five-year infrastructure plan, the MLGW chief again admitted the company is behind on that plan, in part because of COVID, but also noted that a storm of this size would tear down vegetation beyond its scope. plan.
“A couple of years down the road, we’ll have a much more reliable system,” McGowen said during a news conference Monday.
On Monday afternoon, McGowen provided an update on the outage. Read his full statement below:
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