Duke Energy customers in and near Nashville need to prepare for another planned power outage happening later this month.
The outage will start Sunday, Nov. 24 at 11 p.m. and will last until about 6 a.m. Monday, Nov. 25, according to Duke.
Upper Salt Creek Road between Gatesville and Petro roads will also be closed as a crew works to replace wooden utility poles. The road closure will begin at 10 p.m. Nov. 24 and will last until 6:30 a.m. the next day.
Approximately 450 customers will be affected this year. Last year, about 1,300 customers living in or around Nashville were affected.
De-energizing the power lines allows crews to work safely, according to Duke.
Brown County schools will be on a two-hour delay Monday, Nov. 25 to allow buildings enough time to warm back up after the outage. The delay will also give kitchen staff time to prepare breakfast in the buildings and bus drivers time to pick up students on the closed road.
Last November, Duke cut power to customers for about seven hours to replace wooden utility poles in need of repair with steel poles. This month’s outage is a continuation of that project.
The wooden utility poles feed into the Nashville substation located in the 600 block of Clay Lick Road. The poles were identified as needing to be replaced following a routine inspection, according to a letter to customers.
“(The poles) are being replaced with stronger, more reliable steel poles,” the letter states.
“The new, longer lasting steel poles are more reliable and are less likely to suffer damage during severe weather. They are also more resistant to damage from insects, woodpeckers and other species.”
During the outage, crews will also work to make upgrades to the Nashville substation “to improve the reliability of electric service,” the letter continues.
Residents and visitors who use Upper Salt Creek, Gatesville and Petro roads are encouraged to plan accordingly. Anyone who lives on the section of Upper Salt Creek Road or a road that connects to it will need to call 911 from a battery-operated phone if there’s an emergency during the outage.
“Duke Energy is working closely with emergency service agencies in Nashville and Brown County to ensure that first responders can access residents in the project area during the outage and road closure,” states a frequently asked questions document from Duke.
Duke worked with community leaders to choose an outage window that avoided both peak business hours and the peak tourism season in October.
“The outage will also take place when energy demands are relatively low and before winter weather,” the document states.
“Duke Energy is taking this outage to reduce the risk of unforeseen and unplanned outages in the future.”
In the case of severe weather, like lightning, the outage will happen on Dec. 1 and 2 at the same times.
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Customers who will be affected by this power outage live north of Nashville on State Road 135 North just past Blueberry Drive and before Treetop Lane. A portion of Jackson Branch Road also will be affected, along with Town Hill and Parkview roads. Customers on Old State Road 46 and a portion of Greasy Creek Road also are in the outage area.
South Central Indiana REMC does not anticipate any of its members to be affected by this planned outage. If REMC customers have questions about the planned outage or do experience an outage during this time frame, they are encouraged to contact REMC at 765-342-3344, said Tammy Haenlein, REMC’s marketing and and public relations specialist.
Duke Energy customers with questions can call 1-800-820-9362 or email [email protected].
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