CARY – A helicopter crew conducting vegetation work for a railroad damaged Duke Energy equipment Thursday, triggering a widespread power outage that disrupted businesses and public facilities in Cary and Morrisville.
Duke Energy told ABC11 that the outage began around 2:15 p.m. and affected about 35,000 customers, primarily in the two Wake County communities. WRAL separately reported that the utility’s outage map showed nearly 22,000 customers without power at its peak. The reports used different customer measurements, and both described a large, hourslong outage.
Duke spokesperson Jeff Brooks told WRAL that the crew performing aerial tree trimming for the railroad damaged utility equipment. ABC11 reported that a transmission line was damaged and a tree fell onto a power line along the tracks. Duke said the helicopter crew was not working for the utility.
The outage interrupted operations at High House Mini Mart, where electronic payment systems and gas pumps stopped working, according to ABC11. Cary also closed several community and arts facilities and canceled evening programs.
More than 5,000 customers still lacked power at 6:40 p.m., WRAL reported. Service was restored across the affected area by about 9 p.m. Thursday.
Duke Energy continued investigating the incident. Neither report identified the railroad or helicopter contractor.