Dominion Power Prepares for Winter Storm Outages

Dominion Virginia Power is expecting power outages considering the nature of the incoming storm. They've prepared their trucks and crews to service problem areas, said Le-Ha Anderson, manager for media and community relations, in a recent email to Patch.

The Winter Storm Watch from the National Weather Service predicts "more than 5 inches possible with the potential for more than a foot somewhere within the watch area."

Wet, heavy snow can weigh down tree limbs which can possibly make contact with power lines and cause power outages, Anderson explained. Dominion customers are encouraged to contact Dominion immediately at 1-866-DOM-HELP if they witness trees on power lines or leaning toward power lines. Anderson said it's best to stay away from these areas.

By Tuesday afternoon, Dominion had already prepared their crews and fueled and stocked their trucks with materials needed to respond to this kind of storm.

"We have moved additional crews and contractors into the area so that they are staged near to where we anticipate the most damage from the storm," said Anderson. "In addition, we have made arrangements for utilities south of us to come onto our system to help if we have the outages that this storm could cause."

Dominion has also launched a mobile website for their customers who have smart devices. Using a smart device, customers can go to www.dom.com and it will direct them to the Dominion mobile site where they can report power outages and get updates.