Why some Cincinnati power outages take longer to fix
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The powerful storm that ripped through Greater Cincinnati last week offered the latest test of how Duke Energy prepares for severe weather — and what happens when Mother Nature overwhelms those plans.
Why it matters: The "devastating" storm knocked out power to more than 274,000 customers, making it one of the region's most significant storms in the past decade, Duke spokesperson John Juech tells Axios.
How it works: Duke employs meteorologists to watch forecasts and uses them to determine staffing and resources before storms arrive.
Yes, but: There's only so much preparation can do.
- "We've had 13 major storms this summer and three tornadoes," Juech says. "So it's been a challenging summer for everyone."
Tuesday’s derecho — a fast-moving line of thunderstorms capable of widespread wind damage — toppled trees, poles and wires across the region.
- Duke brought in 1,500 out-of-town workers to help.
The challenge: Getting the lights back on wasn't simply a matter of reconnecting wires.
- Duke restored power relatively quickly to roughly 223,000 customers through what Juech described as more "surface-level" fixes.
The most difficult work, Juech says, involved roughly 1,000 "mainline events," where damage to major electric and transmission lines can require rebuilding infrastructure.
- "We saw so much tree damage throughout the region. Big trees coming down and just wreaking a lot of havoc."
Zoom in: Duke prioritizes hospitals, schools, water and sewer systems, then repairs that will restore power to the most customers.
- That means the last outages can take the longest. Crews may spend hours on repairs that restore power to only a handful of homes.
The big picture: All those downed lines inevitably revive a familiar question: Why not bury them?
- Newer developments and parts of Cincinnati, including downtown, already have underground lines.
Casey’s thought bubble: I lived downtown for more than 20 years and don't remember ever having a power outage caused by a storm.
Reality check: "Undergrounding" a city’s worth of power lines is expensive.
What's next: With more storms likely over the next few weeks, Juech says Duke will continue adjusting staffing as forecasts change.
- "We'll absolutely make sure that we have the resources in place to respond to any events as they come up."