Hatteras Island cooperative ready to restore power when outages strike

By Laura Ertle, Director of Marketing

Relations

Public

and

Cape Hatteras Electric Coopertive Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative (CHEC) is a member owned electric utility serving over 7,900 meters on Hatteras Island. CHEC purchases power from North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation (NCEMC) and takes delivery north of the Basnight Bridge over Oregon Inlet from Dominion North Carolina Power. CHEC delivers the power south across the Basnight Bridge via 45 miles of 115kV transmission lines. CHEC owns and maintains a 115kV step-down substation in Buxton, with 10.1 miles of 34.5kV transmission lines from Buxton to Hatteras Village. CHEC also wheels power for Tideland EMC to serve Ocracoke Island. CHEC stands ready to restore power should outages occur in the wake of severe weather. Prior to an event, CHEC employees double check equipment and supplies that will allow them to restore power if major outages occur on Hatteras Island. When severe weather causes outages, crews begin working, as soon as conditions permit, to restore service in a safe and efficient manner. During major outages, CHEC will call on mutual aid crews from other electric cooperatives and contractors to aid in restoration efforts. CHEC utilizes the 15 MW Buxton diesel generators owned by our wholesale power supplier, North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation, as well as portable diesel generators during major outages to supply emergency power to those still on the island.

Members and visitors can monitor CHEC’s website, chec.coop, the cooperative’s Facebook,

Instagram and Twitter accounts, and tune into Radio Hatteras at 99.9FM and 101.5FM for updates during severe weather events. CHEC also utilizes text messaging to alert members of outages. To join the outage text list, members can call CHEC’s office at 252-9955616. Any power outages on Hatteras Island should be reported by calling the Outage Reporting number 866-511-9862.