Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative currently has just over 5,000 outages as ice laden trees and limbs continue to fall across our electric lines. Contrary to increasing outage numbers, our team has made significant progress this morning as we have restored power to 14 outages affecting 944 Members. Crews continue to press ahead and complete restoration in remaining outage locations.

Steps we have taken thus far:

• Crews worked throughout the night responding to emergency calls and outages.
• Chase City and Emporia line crews have shifted west to assist our Gretna district.
• Contract crews with Asplundh Tree Services, Davis H. Elliott, and River City Construction are onsite assisting in restoration efforts.
• We have brought in three contract stakers with TRC to get ahead of crews in the field to assess damage and plan ahead for crew makeup, crew size, required equipment makeup, and complete an itemized list of material needed at outage locations.

Following this storm, we do anticipate some additional trouble throughout the day as some spotty melting occurs and branches snap upward. Additional freezing rain is likely across the northwestern portions of Southside Virginia beginning after 2:00 pm today. Based on both storm fronts, operational impact, and the potential for increased ice accumulation and resulting outages throughout the day and tonight, we anticipate the completion of restoration to extend into Friday.

With the amount of damage across Halifax and Pittsylvania County, estimating the time of restoration for specific locations is nearly impossible until all damage is assessed, especially with continued scattered outages rising. We are asking Members to prepare for themselves and family members to remain safe and warm until all power is restored.