212,000 restored; 4,000 customers still without power

(July 24, 2023, 10:30 a.m.) – Memphis Light, Gas and Water, alongside contract crews, will work until all customers are restored. We haven’t forgotten our customers who have been off since Tuesday. The severe back-to-back storms last week impacted around 216,000 customers and 212,000 have since been restored. As of 9 a.m. Monday, approximately 4,000 remained without power. We are committed to returning our system to normal as quickly as possible and most customers should expect full restoration by Tuesday at midnight – those with more difficult repairs should expect restoration by Wednesday, midday.

Crews will continue tackling hundreds of smaller outages today which tend to be more complex and require additional time to repair. We understand our customers’ frustration and we are making every effort to rectify it. The utility has a service improvement plan to shore up system resiliency and reliability, and to make MLGW a more agile organization. Infrastructure updates like the installation of new transformers, modernized equipment and having fewer customers on a fuse tap have already impacted neighborhoods like Normal Station on a smaller scale, improving reliability by 50%. It’s going to take time but in the next three to four years, the modernizations will make a huge difference when we experience storms like the ones that hit our area in June and July.

Planned improvements may be little solace for our customers who are out this week. However, our full complement of repair and tree trimming crews, troubleshooters, and damage assessment teams, are working tirelessly to identify and repair damages. We have additional logistics, administrative, safety, and system operations personnel to support them effectively.

We thank our customers for their patience and understanding.

Customers can help by making sure crews have access to powerlines at the rear of their property to help expedite the restoration process.

Customers should continue to call to report their outage and not assume we are aware of their outage. An outage at the circuit or distribution line level will often mask another outage at the fuse, transformer or service drop level. When the circuit is successfully repaired, the system may not automatically detect an outage downstream.

Further, customers may have localized damage, like equipment down in their backyard or damage to their weatherheads. The weatherhead is usually located above the roofline or attached to the gable or side of the house where the customer's wiring connects to MLGW's electric lines. The weatherhead is the homeowner's property and therefore is not maintained by MLGW. If it is damaged, a customer must have it repaired by a licensed electrician and inspected by Code Enforcement before MLGW can restore power.

 

Important Notices/Reminders:

· Call 211 for emergency shelter and other resources.

· Customers who currently receive SNAP can apply for replacement benefits at https://www.tn.gov/humanservices/for-families/tdhs-disaster-emergency-assistance.html. · An MLGW emergency response dashboard is online at http://www.mlgw.com/stormresponse.

· Please always call 528-4465 to report emergencies like downed powerlines and gas leaks. MLGW asks customers to stay away from downed powerlines. DO NOT TOUCH or cut limbs across powerlines. They could be energized (hot).

· MLGW customers can report power outages and check the status of their outage through My Account or by calling the automated outage number: 544-6500. Customers can also check the online outage map: mlgw.com/outagecenter.

 

Memphis Light, Gas and Water is the largest three-service public power utility in the nation, serving the residents of Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee since 1939. MLGW consistently provides customers with rates that are amongst the lowest in the nation and stewards a water supply from artesian wells that is minimally treated. Actively engaged in promoting the prosperity of Memphis and Shelby County, MLGW supports the seven local chambers in its service area and makes doing business with local, minority- and women-owned business a priority. Deeply rooted in the community, its employees generously donate time and money in support of bettering the Greater Memphis area.