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Yes, Central Virginia Electric Cooperative officials know the power is out for more than 1,900 Buckingham County residents this morning, thanks to Winter Storm Blair. The same is true for Dominion, as they work on problems in Prince Edward and Cumberland. Officials from both companies ask for patience, however, as work crews are investigating what caused the outages and the best way to fix them. 

When we first started writing this story, there were 634 residents in the dark in Prince Edward. Now that’s extended. A total of 585 Cumberland residents are without power, as are 1,937 Buckingham County residents, with outages spread in patches around Dillwyn and Sprouse’s Corner. In Prince Edward, the main focus involves 560 homes in the dark just outside of Farmville town limits and another 80 without power near Prospect. 

The big question with all of these is when will the lights come back on. Give work crews some time, Dominion officials say. Part of the problem is where the damage happened. Some of these outages stem from downed power lines, out in rural areas. It’s not as simple as just pulling up to a pole on the side of the road. Instead, to repair some of these lines, it means going offroad. As a result, the current estimate for power to be back on is between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. for all the areas affected in Buckingham, Cumberland and Prince Edward counties. Those are worst case estimates, with the majority of homes likely seeing power back on long before then. 

No quick fixes as Winter Storm Blair returns

At the same time, be prepared for additional outages, officials warn, as another part of the storm approaches. The temperature isn’t expected to climb above 35 degrees at any point today, with another round of snow anticipated tonight. As of 6 a.m., the National Weather Service out of Wakefield says snow should fall from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight.