WAXHAW, N.C. — Residents and business owners in Waxhaw said their power has been going out for several months and Duke Energy’s efforts to fix it is making it worse.
Kat Richardson, owner of Provisions Waxhaw along South Main Street, said they’ve lost power 10 times since April.
Duke Energy, in the last week, said it temporarily paused some of its work in parts of Waxhaw to help mitigate some of the reoccurring outages.
“Literally, we’ve had a line out the door and had to send people away,” Richardson said.
In February, Duke Energy started a project to enhance the grid in Waxhaw, which includes trimming trees, adding more resilient equipment and self-healing technology.
However, that work came with more outages in parts of the town.
Resident Shellene Gross protects her appliances.
“This is a surge protector that we purchased online that was about $25 and we specially got one for our each of our refrigerator because it was getting to the point that there were so many power outages, we were afraid we would lose our appliances.”
Gross lives in the MillBridge neighborhood, which lost power five times in May.
She’s glad Duke Energy is pausing some of their work.
“Honestly, that’s the first real accountability we’ve seen on their part,” Gross said.
Waxhaw Mayor Robert Murray said the town needs the grid enhancements during severe weather and to support its growth.
“I know it seems very late,” he said. “And a lot of residents would probably resent me saying it and thanking them but, I am appreciative that they are doing something about it at all.”
He said the town’s priority moving forward is communication.
Residents and businesses hope they don’t see further disruptions especially now that some of the work has been paused until mid-July.
Duke Energy said the grid enhancement project is halfway done and should wrap up around November.
Action 9 advice:
Can you get your utility company to pay for spoiled food and other damages when there’s an outage?
Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke said many utilities, including Duke Energy, don’t guarantee continuity of service, so it’s not responsible for losses.
North and South Carolina don’t have laws forcing utilities to reimburse you.
You can still submit a claim to your power company and if you are denied, you can sue.
Some customers have won in other states over the years.
You usually must prove willful misconduct or gross negligence on the part of the utility.
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