Hurricane Irene has the potential to knock out power for hundreds of thousands of Virginians, according to electric utility officials.
"Nobody wants this type of thing," said P. Rodney Blevins, Dominion Virginia Power's vice president for distribution operations, "but to the extent it has to happen, we're ready for it."
Based on the impact of earlier storms similar to Irene, Blevins said, 250,000 to 750,000 customers of the Richmond-based company could lose power.
But many factors — including the speed, intensity and track of the storm — will determine the actual damage Irene causes to electric power infrastructure in Virginia, officials said.
Dominion Virginia Power — the state's largest electric utility, with 2.3 million customers — has 5,000 workers ready to help restore power, Blevins said, and the capacity to call in more from other power companies as far west as Texas and Oklahoma.
The company has 875 bucket trucks available now, he said, and more vehicles on hand to erect electricity poles.
Fredericksburg-based Rappahannock Electric Cooperative has 400 employees standing by, said Ann Lewis, spokeswoman for the state's largest power distribution co-op. "We are increasing our workforce by 30 percent," she said.
Prolonged power outages from large storms such as Irene can bring daily life and commerce to a halt. Lights, communications, refrigeration, computers, ATMs, gas pumps, air conditioning and public water systems depend on electricity.
"We believe the damage will be significant," Lewis said, "but we hope not as devastating as Hurricane Isabel."
More than 2 million electric subscribers lost power statewide in 2003's Isabel, including 80 percent of Dominion Virginia Power's customers.
Richmond and Henrico County have backup generators to ensure their water treatment plants don't fail during the storm, as the city's did during Isabel. Chesterfield utility officials have readied their emergency generators and topped off water tanks.
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