The Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative has had relatively few power outages on Jan. 23 despite significant winds and two feet of snow that have turned the Mid-Atlantic states white. Line and tree crews responded to power-outage reports since Saturday morning when Blizzard Jonas intensified in Northern Virginia.
NOVEC thanks crews from Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania for their assistance all day.
Customers without power should report outages to NOVEC at 703-335-0500 or 1-888-335-0500 and follow the prompts from the Interactive Voice Recognition system. The IVR system will report the outage to NOVEC's System Operations Center immediately. Customers can also use NOVEC's free app available at www.novec.com/apps or send a text message. To sign up for text messaging, customers can text the keyword NOVECOUT to 85700 or log onto their accounts on www.novec.com. They can learn more about what to do when the power goes out on NOVEC's website.
NOVEC warns customers to:
Only use electric generators that have been installed by licensed electricians outdoors for the safety of homeowners and NOVEC line technicians.
Stay away from downed power lines and assume they are energized. Call NOVEC and 911 immediately.
Use flashlights or lanterns instead of candles. If candles must be used, keep them away from children, pets, furnishings, and monitored them at all times.
NOVEC, headquartered in Manassas, serves more than 160,000 customers including those in Centreville and Clifton.