~ Press release issued by Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative
ROCKINGHAM, Dec. 23 — As of 9 a.m. Friday, Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative is working to restore service to about 2,100 members throughout its service territory. The highest number of reported outages by jurisdiction are as follows:
Shenandoah 770
Augusta 626
Rockingham 608
Frederick 120
For the latest information, please visit the outage center at www.svec.coop/outage or the MySVEC app. Members should report outages through those methods or by calling 1-800-234-7832.
Restoration times, when available, will be posted on the map and app. At the time of this email, SVEC is working with its vendor on server issues with the outage map, in case it does not load properly for you.
As the cooperative continues to monitor Friday’s high winds and their effect on its system, please be aware this weather element is not the only threat for the weekend.
Bitterly cold temperatures through Christmas will lead to additional electric use and reliance on SVEC’s system, as long as winds do not cause widespread outage issues. With temperatures well below the freezing mark, and it being a time for gathering with friends and family, more electricity will be used than normal.
SVEC’s system is ready to handle the increased demand for electricity. It’s important for members to know during times of extreme temperatures where demand is high and, as outages occur, there may be situations where power restoration of circuits is done incrementally to avoid high load shock to the grid.
“These are unusual circumstances that on one hand we are gearing up and working on widespread outages, yet we’re also trying to be mindful of electric use. For us, these are just the types of challenges we always prepare for. They happen to be hitting us all at once right now,” says Ben Cash, SVEC’s manager of district operations.
It’s also important to know higher bills this time of year are a direct result of greater electricity consumption. SVEC understands members’ concerns about these unusually high bills. The cooperative encourages members to control electricity use by being aware of their energy consumption and taking reasonable conservation measures over the holidays, such as keeping thermostats set as low as you can.
Information on how to best conserve energy is at www.svec.coop. Also, SVEC’s free and voluntary Beat the Peak program helps the cooperative hold down electric rates by asking members to reduce consumption during high peak demand times throughout the year. More information on this program is available at www.SVECBeatThePeak.coop.
Outage updates can be expected until restoration is complete. SVEC’s Facebook page will also be updated regularly.
How to Report Outages
Members can report outages one of three ways:
• Online: Outage Center at www.svec.coop
• Mobile: On the free MySVEC app at www.svec.coop/app
• By Phone: 1-800-234-7832
Members should not report outages over SVEC’s social media channels. SVEC’s operations team must receive official outage notification through one of the three methods listed above.
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