Duke Energy says most Spartanburg customers should have power by Friday

Duke Energy officials told Spartanburg City leaders on Tuesday that three primary transmission feeders needed to restore neighborhoods are close to being brought back online and that the utility expects the vast majority of customers to have power by late Friday.

City Manager Chris Story opened the briefing and asked Duke Energy to explain the restoration work. "Be patient; the recovery is coming," Story said, urging residents to rely on official updates as crews work. Ryan Moser, a leader on Duke Energy's leadership team in the Carolinas, told attendees the company prioritized transmission repairs because "if the transmission system is not working it doesn't matter what we do in front of your house... you're not going to have power." He said three key transmission feeders that will energize the substations that feed Spartanburg neighborhoods are "very close" and "we expect those not later than tomorrow."

Why some homes have power while others do not The utility explained that customers can be fed by different transmission feeds, substations or even different providers (co-ops versus Duke). Moser said it's common for one side of a street to be on a different circuit than the other, so physical proximity to a substation is not a reliable indicator of service status. "That can happen within Duke Energy customers as well," he said, underscoring that grid topology and damage patterns determine when specific neighborhoods are re-energized.

Workforce, staging and logistics Moser said the upstate restoration effort involves roughly 15,000 skilled workers across the region (line workers, engineers, tree crews and logistics staff), with staging areas in Spartanburg, Greenwood and Anderson. Mutual aid has brought crews from other states and countries to support the operation. "We're bringing more in as we can from other areas that were not impacted as much," Moser said, and crews are shifted as areas are cleared so resources can be redeployed.

Safety and homeowner guidance Officials urged residents with damaged meter boxes to hire a licensed electrician and to comply with any county certification requirements before power can be restored to those properties. Moser emphasized that Duke Energy crews will not re-energize circuits until they have inspected downstream conditions and confirmed they are safe to restore. "We're not going to turn on the power before we know that the downstream impacts are absolutely 100 percent safe," he said.

Regional context and community response City leaders noted that Western North Carolina suffered even greater damage from the storm and that many crews are also deployed there. Officials and Duke Energy staff repeatedly thanked the workers on long shifts and asked the public to support crews by giving them space and avoiding harassment. Officials also highlighted neighbors helping neighbors and local schools providing meals and space where power is available; City Manager Story referenced a conversation with a high school principal organizing community meals.

What comes next and how to get updates Officials reiterated that the timeline provided is an estimate and that restoration will happen incrementally as transmission feeders and substations are brought back into service and individual safety checks are completed. City and utility staff asked residents to monitor official city and Duke Energy channels for the latest outage maps and guidance. Mayor Jerome Rice closed by asking residents to "be patient, be kind to one another" as crews complete the work.

The briefing ended with officials directing residents to the city's social media accounts and app for continuing updates, and restating the utility's target that the vast majority of customers should have power by late Friday.