EPB says snow, ice damaging power lines

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Electric company crews are dealing with some power outages across the Tennessee Valley.

EPB said at one point Wednesday morning, they had nearly 800 outages. But many of these have been restored, including all outages in the East Brainerd area.

Meanwhile, the Volunteer Electric Cooperative was reporting over 800 outages in their service area, north and east of the Chattanooga metro. This includes hundreds of outages in Meigs and Polk Counties.

Near Murphy, North Carolina, about 2,100 homes are without power.

Sophie Moore, a spokesperson with EPB, says crews are facing two primary issues on this frigid morning.

“The snow and ice that’s on trees and homes causing damage to power lines and power poles. And also, our area is not used to this record breaking cold, and we do have some infrastructure damage that’s driven by very low temperatures happening this morning,” Moore said.

Moore also said EPB is in constant communication with TVA. So far, they are supplying energy with no issue.