RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — As Ian makes its way up the east coast, local electric companies are gearing up for bad weather.
The rain and wind starting Friday afternoon and going through the weekend could cause residents to lose power.
But a spokesperson from Dominion Energy said it’s not likely to be something residents of the Richmond area are seeing across the board.
“[We’re] now going over the response plan,” said Craig Carper, a spokesperson for Dominion Energy. “Crews have been gearing up for this storm since the last one.”
Carper said if outages remain minimal, the electric utility will actually be sending crews to areas that are harder hit.
Still, Dominion is urging residents to make sure they charge important devices like cell phones and laptops and to keep extra flashlights and batteries on hand.
“We’ve been through this many times, but every storm’s different,” Carper said. “We’ve got everyone ready to go. That’s the key thing, being nimble and able to respond wherever the extreme weather impacts us most.”
The Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, which serves 22 Virginia counties including Spotsylvania, Hanover and Louisa, is actively tracking the path of the ever-changing storm and is reminding residents to stay away from any downed power lines that might fall, a spokesperson said.
A utility company that serves 18 Virginia counties, Southside Electric Cooperative, is reminding customers to secure any windows and doors in the event of high winds caused by the incoming weather, which is set to impact millions of energy consumers in Central Virginia.