Power outages spike during severe thunderstorms, heat advisory
As of 7:33 p.m. July 18, more than 120,000 Memphis Light, Gas and Water customers did not have power. (MLGW Electric Outage Summary screenshot)
To report power outages, call 901-544-6500.
To report emergencies, such as downed power lines or gas leaks, call 901-528-4465.
To check status of your outage, use the MLGW website’s My Account feature.
To check the utility’s outage map, go to mlgw.com/outagecenter.
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Nearly 140,000 Memphis Light, Gas and Water customers — more than 30% of all customers — were without power Tuesday evening as severe thunderstorms hit the area amid a heat advisory.
By about 8 p.m., the number of outages started to drop. This was the eighth worst storm in MLGW history, in terms of outages. About 40,000 more customers were without power Tuesday evening than in MLGW’s ninth worst storm: Hurricane Katrina.
More than 10,000 Memphis Light, Gas and Water customers in Cordova and Lakeland were briefly without power Tuesday afternoon. By early evening, power had returned for all but 1,000 customers shortly before heavy winds and rain swept through the area, spiking outages.
MLGW reported that lightning impacted some of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s transmission stations and MLGW’s distribution substations. At the same time, straight-line winds of more than 65 miles per hour downed trees, causing more outages.
“MLGW is working to assess the damage, repair infrastructure and restore customers as quickly and safely as we can,” the utility said in a tweet.
Overnight, it’ll focus on three areas of restoration: rerouting power, clearing roadways and working on its damage assessment.
Tuesday’s storm is the third round of severe weather in as many weeks. Back-to-back weekends of strong winds and heavy rain hit the area in late June and early July, leaving 156,000 customers without power in total.
In the aftermath of recent storms, MLGW CEO and President Doug McGowen identified the main culprit: trees. Fallen limbs and vegetation caused about 60% of outages those storms, and since then, McGowen has secured a five-year, $227 million contract to get MLGW on its tree-trimming schedule.
MLGW hasn’t met its goal since the late 1990s; nearly halfway through the year, the utility was 5% of the way toward its annual goal. McGowen told the City Council July 11 that failed tree-trimming efforts have increased power outages fivefold.
A sudden, severe thunderstorm bringing high wind gusts has caused extensive damage across the MLGW service area knocking out power to more than 100, 000 customers. #MLGW is working to assess the damage, repair infrastructure and restore customers as quickly and safely as we can. pic.twitter.com/Yv6l7E2rZK
— MLGW (@MLGW) July 19, 2023
The area is under a severe thunderstorm watch until at least midnight and an excessive heat warning Wednesday from noon to 8 p.m., meaning the heat index could reach 112 degrees.
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Memphis Light Gas & Water power outage stormsKeely Brewer
Keely Brewer is a Report for America corps member covering environmental impacts on communities of color in Memphis. She is working in partnership with the Ag & Water Desk, a sustainable reporting network aimed at telling water and agriculture stories across the Mississippi River Basin.
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