Conservation effort averts power outages following winter storms, Duke Energy says

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Duke Energy asked its customers to conserve their power from 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Monday. The request was made in an effort to avoid possible power outages following back-to-back winter storms.

Caroline Fountain with Duke Energy said the request did make a difference as they were able to maintain reliability for all of their customers in the Carolinas.

In the wintertime, Fountain said peak energy usage or demand typically happens in the early morning hours. She said that’s typically when it’s the coldest out. It’s also when people are starting to wake up and use their hot showers and turn on lights.

“When you’re thinking about temperatures outside, even if you don’t really touch your thermostat, let’s say you leave it on the same setting, your heating systems are going to be working that much harder to keep your home comfortable,” Fountain said.

DUKE ENERGY URGES CUSTOMERS TO CONSERVE POWER ON MONDAY

Fountain said that they want to thank their customers for helping to reduce energy usage.

“We were able to reliably deliver electricity to our customers in the Carolinas and that was due in part thanks to folks understanding, being patient and helping reduce their power,” Fountain said.

Fountain said the last time they requested to conserve energy was last June.

That was during a time when there was a very high demand on the grid because of the very high temperatures. During the summertime, peak energy usage is in the mid-to-late afternoon hours.

JAN. 26, 2026 — Crews work to restore power after a winter storm in western North Carolina. (Photo: WLOS Staff)

She said their in-house team of meteorologists is constantly forecasting to let crews know what to expect. They also have their grid operators who are examining and predicting energy usage and making adjustments as needed.

News 13 also reached out to French Broad Electric amid winter storm impacts. They serve mostly north of Asheville, including Buncombe, Madison, Yancey and Mitchell counties.

French Broad Electric general manager and CEO, Jeff Loven, said he’s thankful for holding up well during these back-to-back storms.

Loven said they had one outage early Monday morning in the Leicester community that affected 750 customers, but it only lasted about 30 minutes.

DUKE ENERGY CREWS BATTLE ICE AND WIND TO RESTORE POWER IN WNC MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES

They followed Duke Energy’s request for customers to conserve power and are thankful to have been able to keep the lights on through all of this.

While temperatures are going to drop below freezing once again overnight into Tuesday morning, Fountain said they’re confident.

She said they see the amount of energy demand that’s anticipated, and they have the available electricity and energy to deliver to their customers.

“We are at a comfortable place delivering reliable electricity to our customers,” she said.