Summer storms passed through the Midlands on Wednesday, resulting in widespread power outages affecting thousands of residents, with some experiencing disruptions lasting several days.
In Columbia, resident Courtney Peacock-Wolfe described the challenging conditions while waiting for power restoration after a lightning strike caused a transformer to blow. “As night fell, the heat was just in there, there was no breeze,” she shared, explaining how she had to sleep on her porch with just a lightweight blanket and a pillow as she awaited help from Dominion Energy.
Crews from Dominion Energy confirmed that the outage was indeed caused by lightning. They mentioned that service restoration can be delayed by damage at individual customer locations. Company spokesperson Matt Long advised that customers should report outages multiple times to ensure they are addressed promptly.
In a related response, Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative in Lexington County indicated average restoration times of five to six hours for several customers. CEO Bob Paulling emphasized the utility’s ongoing commitment to improving grid resilience. He discussed their assessment of power lines that frequently suffer outages, suggesting that underground lines might be considered in such cases. However, he cautioned that underground lines are not foolproof and can present their own challenges, including longer repair times and potential financial impacts on customers.
This incident highlights the importance of infrastructure resilience in the face of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns. While power outages can be a significant inconvenience, efforts by utility companies to evaluate and reinforce their systems offer a hopeful outlook for improved reliability in the future.