A NOTE AT WATERBEAN EXPLAINED WHY THEY WERE CLOSED

July 25. By Dave Vieser. Failed splices within Duke Energy’s complex duct bank system are behind several lengthy power outages in The Peninsula. A duct bank refers to a group of electrical conduits that provide pathways and protection for electrical wiring. As a result, the company is tightening up their procedures.

“We have increased our inspections in the area to ensure we do not have another long event and analyzing other improvements,” said Duke Energy spokeswoman Meghan Miles.

Miles said the bad splices were on one of the circuits that feeds Jetton, causing a breaker at the substation off Jetton Road to open. That substation feeds electricity down Jetton including some of the stores at Jetton Village.

In the most recent failure on July 9, about 1,000 customers on Jetton Road from Catawba Avenue to John Connor Road lost power for several hours. Many of the stores on the west side of Jetton Road, such as Waterbean, sent their staff home and closed for the day.

Electric service in Cornelius is provided by three different companies: Duke Energy, Energy United and Electricities. Duke customers have apparently had more their share of challenges. Neither Energy United nor Electricities have experienced the same extent of outages, though Electricities has had some planned outages over the past year.

Electricities is the former town municipal electric system and serves customers east of I-77. Energy United serves customers west of I-77, and Duke Energy has customers sprinkled throughout the town, including The Peninsula.

By and large, rates are comparable between the three companies.

In some cases, depending upon location, new electric customers in Cornelius have a choice of companies. And recently, the town adopted an incentive plan for larger use business and industrial customers if they sign up with Electricities.