N.C. Gov. Cooper seeks answers from Duke Energy after rolling blackout

Dec. 26 (UPI) -- North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday demanded answers from Duke Energy after its customers experienced rolling blackouts over the holiday weekend without being warned in advance.

High winds and cold weather caused problems with electrical systems which prompted the utility to employ rarely used "controlled outages" to avoid larger blackouts on Sunday.

Approximately 100,000 customers experienced outages Sunday morning in the Charlotte area, officials said.

"Duke Energy assures me NC is in the clear now. But I'm deeply concerned about people who lost power and who didn't get notice about rotating outages," Cooper tweeted on Monday. "Grateful for those who conserved energy. I've asked Duke for a complete report on what went wrong and for changes to be made."

By early Monday Duke Energy's outage map showed only 4,705 North Carolina customers without power.

The company plans to "thoroughly evaluate the way it serves customers during extreme conditions," Duke Energy spokesman Bill Norton told the Charlotte Observer. "We were not able to communicate as proactively as we normally do given the dynamic nature of the situation and fast moving events."