2:00 p.m.

Memphis Light, Gas and Water crews have been joined by dozens of contract crews and tree trimming crews. Restoration to 25,000-30,000 more customers by midnight is expected. Ninety percent of all affected customers are expected to be restored by midnight on Monday.

“This is a significant event in our history,” noted President Young in the mid-day press conference in Raleigh-Frayser. “In the past 30 years, we have only had two other weather events as destructive as this one.” He urged customers to manage their expectations as restoration for smaller, more localized outages could extend to Thursday.

Customers are also asked to download the MLGW app and sign up for the My Account program. This allows customers to report and track outages, sign up for text alerts, handle billing issues, monitor usage and more.

MLGW prioritizes restoration efforts based on essential services (like hospitals and pumping stations) and where outages are concentrated. Hundreds of customers may be on one circuit, so the utility focuses efforts on large circuit outages, then on partial circuit outages, overhead lines and finally services to individual houses. Of the 50 circuits damaged in the storm, only 19 repairs remain.

MLGW urges customers with localized issues, like damaged weatherheads, to have an electrician make repairs now to avoid further delay once power is restored to their neighborhood. A weatherhead is the transitional point from the customer’s service equipment to MLGW’s service equipment. For details about where MLGW’s equipment ends and the customer’s equipment begins, please check out the brochure Weathering Nature’s Fury.

Important MLGW contact information for customers:

• Electric Outage Reporting: 544-6500
• Emergencies: 528-4465 (for electrical lines down, gas leaks, broken water mains inside a building)
• Customer Care Center: 544-6549
• Online Outage Center: mlgw.com/home/outagecenter

The City of Memphis is operating a warming center at the Hickory Hill Community Center, 3910 Ridgeway Rd. Anyone who needs transportation to the Center should call the Office of Emergency Management at 297-1680.

For more on the restoration process, including how outages are prioritized, watch MLGW’s video, “How long will the power be out?”

 

MLGW is the largest three-service public power utility in the nation, serving more than 437,000 customers in Memphis and Shelby County.