IN THE DARK: How Duke Energy failed to communicate with customers during rolling outages [Video]

ANDERSON, S.C. (FOX Carolina) – An investigation by FOX Carolina has uncovered Duke Energy knew rolling outages were a possibility nearly two years prior to a deadly winter storm yet failed to properly prepare a customer notification system ahead of time.

One Upstate family now claims the company was negligent because they waited too long to communicate with customers.

Rolling outages, or “load shedding,” are an emergency procedure utility companies can take to preserve the electric grid. It involves the utility company manually turning off power in certain areas for a short amount of time. They usually occur during periods of high-power demand.

Duke Energy Carolinas, the division of Duke Energy that serves the Upstate and Western North Carolina, says they were forced to start rolling outages on Christmas Eve 2022 because of the unusually cold temperatures brought on by a winter storm.

While the Carolinas did not see any …