Dominion Energy prepares for cold temperatures this weekend

Hopefully you’re prepared for the cold weather that is on its way this weekend.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) – Hopefully you’re prepared for the cold weather that is on its way this weekend. Dominion Energy is expecting it to be one of the coldest weekends on record. The energy company and S.C. Emergency Management Division is urging people to get prepared now.  

S.C. Emergency Management Division Director Kim Stenson says he’s not anticipating any major issues this weekend but people should always be prepared and refer to the states winter weather guide .

“The winter weather guide gives a number of tips. The first one is three day supply of food and water, again not expecting a lot of power outages this weekend but it’s always a good thing to have on hand. Another key area is your water pipes . . make sure your pipes are insulated. If they’re not insulated it’s a good idea to let the water drip when the weather is below freezing and if you do you should know where the cut off is to reduce the damage there,” says Director Stenson. 

Dominion Energy says people should have the following supplies on hands incase of an outage: flashlights, batteries, charged phone and be sure to use heating equipments in accordance to the manufacturer’s instructions. Dominion Energy crews are on standby ready to respond as necessary.

“We are looking at potential for wind gust at around 40 to 50 degrees according to the forecasts. So with weather like that the number one cause of power outages is going to be down trees and limbs hitting our power lines so that is why its important for us to safeguard those lines in a year around effort,” says Matt Long who is a Dominion Energy Spokesperson. 

Dominion Energy is also aware of the influx of people who will be coming in to the area for the holiday.

“We are prepared for the demand we are expecting to see this weekend. All of our units are available or are running now and we expect that to still be the case throughout this cold weather we’re going to see Friday through Sunday. Customers should know as well though that when you see extremely cold weather like this your heating unit is going to have to work much harder than it would even when the weather is 3o or 40 degrees so there are some tips you can do to save power during these times. We recommend you keep your thermostat around 68 degrees, people aren’t always comfortable with that so try to keep it a little  cooler than you would normally and that will help you save energy,“ says Long. 

Click here to report a power outage on Dominion Energy’s website.