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Power and Internet Outage Caused by Tractor Trailer Accident

Repair crews working on Albemarle Rd during the early afternoon on April 4th, 2023. [Scott Pelkey | North State Journal]

ASHEBORO N.C. – Today we are learning details about what led to customers across Randolph County losing power, internet, and cell service Tuesday.

On April 4th, 2023, at 1pm, Randolph County Emergency Services dispatched Asheboro Fire/Rescue to a utility call on Albemarle Rd.

According to Samantha East, Public Information Officer for the department, their crews arrived on scene to find a power pole that was broken with several lines in the roadway and one lying across a truck.

(Video Credit – Alex Perdue)

By email the Asheboro Police says an Eveready Battery truck was involved however they were unable to say to what extent as the accident report is not yet complete.

Today, Spectrum is saying that the incident was caused by an accident involving a tractor trailer which damaged poles carrying commercial power and other services such as those from Spectrum.

“During the restoration period – when power lines and cables are both down – once the power company repairs their lines, and clears the area deeming it safe, we are able to then begin repairs to our lines,” said a spokesperson in an email.

We were unable to reach a representative for Duke Energy this morning for details about the power outage, but we will update the article if information is received after publication.

Spectrum repair crews were working late into the night on Albemarle Rd to repair downed lines and restore services. [Scott Pelkey | North State Journal]

Repair crews were seen working on Albemarle Rd late into the night. According to Spectrum, “crews worked as quickly as possible to restore services to those customers that were impacted.”

Internet services remain out for around 12 hours for most affected customers. While Spectrum was not able to provide the number of customers affected, comments on posts on Randolph News Now’s Facebook page, readers reported internet outages across Asheboro and in Randleman as well as sporadic cell service outages, but it remains unclear if those outages were connected to the internet outage.

“We apologize for any inconvenience,” said a spokesperson for Charter/Spectrum in an email.

Emails to Energizer Holdings were not immediately returned.