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Duke Energy billing for days without power? Cleaning up remaining downed power lines? If my water comes from Mills River, why can’t I drink it? • Asheville Watchdog

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avlwatchdog.org – JOHN BOYLE – 2024-11-15 06:00:00

Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers:

Question: As you know, many of us residents have experienced power outages as a result of the hurricane. Thankfully though, by this time a lot of us have power restored. Most recall the timeline where we were without power. Well, now the electric bills are rolling out for that period,  and some of us are clever enough to look at the energy usage for the days we were without power. Many are seeing some usage for the days we were without. I’ve heard that some people have tried calling Duke Energy about this but are getting no answers about it. While my bill is lower (probably because I was out of town mostly and had the hot water heater turned off for the month) I myself have seen some energy usage on the days the lines were down. I am sure that others would be curious to have this explained, as some are also reporting higher electric bills.

My answer: I believe my household won the award for “Jankiest generator in use post-Helene.” Apparently, ours badly needs a new carburetor and kept surging and petering out at night, leading one neighbor to tell me, “I was really pulling for your generator to make it last night. I was like, ‘Come on, buddy, you can do it!’” It’s not easy being cheap… 

Real answer: Duke Energy spokesperson Bill Norton said the utility continues to “closely monitor accounts for customers who experienced extended outages.” Like me, Duke has gotten a variety of questions about billing, so Norton addressed several common billing topics.

Here’s a rundown on each:

  • Regarding auto-pay: “If customers are on auto-pay, payments will automatically draft on the due date that the customer signed up for,” Norton said. “Customers have the option to temporarily pause their automatic payment by contacting us at 800-777-9898 (Duke Energy Carolinas) or 800-452-2777 (Duke Energy Progress), or by logging into their account to unenroll from auto-pay. If a customer chooses to unenroll, they are encouraged to re-enroll when their situation allows, to avoid any future missed payments.”
  • Regarding budget billing: “If customers are on Budget Billing, they will still be invoiced their set monthly amount regardless of energy use — just as they would in a mild-weather month when usage is low, or in a cold-weather month when their usage is high — because their Budget Billing is based on long-range average use,” Norton said. “Of course, any lack of energy use due to an outage of any length would be reflected at the end of the Budget Billing period, when we recalculate the next extended period of Budget Billing based on actual usage.”
  • For AMI/smart meter customers: “For customers with an AMI/smart meter — which are all customers who have not opted out of a smart meter — bills reflect actual usage for the billing cycle if the meter is communicating properly,” Norton said.

“Customers who opted out of an AMI/smart meter may see estimated usage if we were unable to obtain a reading prior to invoicing,” Norton continued. “Once Duke Energy can obtain a reading from the meter, their next bill will be adjusted to reflect actual usage, so it evens out. For those who no longer need an AMI/smart meter exemption, transitioning to a smart meter remains an option and would eliminate this issue.”

If you have a situation that differs from these three scenarios, Norton encourages you to call the appropriate 800 number above.

Downed utility lines and cables remain strewn along roadsides in Buncombe County in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene. This one was on the roadside of Old Fort Road in Fairview this week. // Watchdog photo by John Boyle

Question: Here we are weeks after the storm and there are still power lines and other utility lines down around the area, even where power has been restored. Why didn’t the restoration crews clean up the downed lines when they were here? Who will be picking up these lines now? Will Duke pick up all of them, or are other utilities required to get their own lines? When will this happen?

My answer: I’m just happy someone finally picked up the overturned Dumpster near my neighborhood. Although it was great for giving directions – “Just hang a right at the overturned Dumpster, but before you get to the hot tub just sitting by the side of the road.”

Real answer: Norton said Duke Energy crews continue to inspect power lines and cleanup continues for the remaining power-related debris in Duke’s easement areas.

“Immediately after the storm, Duke Energy crews prioritized power restoration,” Norton said. “Hundreds of other crew members have been specifically tasked with cleanup, identifying and removing all remaining Duke Energy debris.”

The cleanup involves any broken poles, power lines, and transformers that weren’t removed during the initial restoration process.

“Please note that most of the wires yet to be addressed are telecommunications wires unrelated to power delivery — that equipment must be resolved by telecommunications providers,” Norton said.

As with most of this recovery, don’t expect lightning speed. 

“Given the widespread impacts of Helene on the electric grid and the thousands of impacted structures, this cleanup effort will continue for some time,” Norton said. “We appreciate our customers’ patience as we work to address all remaining power debris as rapidly as possible.”

Question: I’ve seen reports of Duke Power using helicopters to set poles in areas that are  inaccessible to equipment. Are the helicopters equipped with augers to bore holes for the poles, or are they dug with shovels?

Duke Energy does employ helicopters to lift utility poles into place in hard to access areas. This chopper was setting a pole into place in the Botany Woods neighborhood in eastern Buncombe County on Oct. 15. // Provided photo

My answer: I would pay good money for a helicopter to come install a new fence to replace my smashed one. I would also pay bad money. Honestly, I would just pay money of any kind so I don’t have to do it myself. Post hole diggers are a form of torture.

Real answer: I went back to Norton for this one, so he could complete the Answer Man hat trick today.

“When appropriate, Duke Energy uses helicopters as an innovative way to set utility poles after a storm in areas that are extremely challenging to access,” Norton said. “But the holes are created by crews on the ground, dug in various ways depending on the terrain, and the poles are then guided into the holes by the ground personnel.”

I’ve seen people posting about this on social media, and it is really cool to see.

“Helicopters essentially function as very versatile cranes, allowing us to lift and move heavy objects and materials such as poles across difficult-to-reach landscapes,” Norton said. “While their use is not common to move material, we sometimes utilize helicopters for storm restoration work to assess damage and conduct other activities because in many cases, doing so is safer and less expensive than cutting a new access road, for example, while giving us access to areas we may not be able to reach otherwise.”

The most important part is, “Critically, helicopters also allow us to restore power faster to impacted customers,” Norton said.

Question: I get four AVL water alerts daily, two in English, two in Spanish. I continue to read them and all the Watchdog communiques, and nowhere does any communication talk about the Mills River reservoir which provides water to South Asheville. I live in Arden, and we never lost water or pressure. Is our water potable? Is it safe for cooking? Once again I feel like the stepchild of Asheville. What is the story on south Asheville water? Since I keep getting the boil water notice, that’s what I do. I know I’m a lucky one, but this is so frustrating not to have any mention of Arden/South Asheville.

My answer: Hey, the city would be happy to send you more alerts every day, if that’s what you’re getting at.

Real answer: This does get a little complicated, and I’ve heard from several readers who are confused about the Mills River plant and their city water situation.

Here’s one reason this gets confusing: The City of Asheville has a water treatment plant (not a reservoir) on the Mills River in northern Henderson County. That facility is functioning fine now, producing about three million gallons a day for Asheville water users. 

Don’t confuse this facility with the City of Hendersonville’s water treatment plant, which is also on the Mills River but provides drinking water to City of Hendersonville customers, as well as to the Town of Fletcher (the actual incorporated town, which lies in northern Henderson County). Hendersonville’s water is potable and safe to drink, but Asheville’s is not.

I know this because I live in the Town of Fletcher. I get a water bill from the City of Hendersonville, and my water is potable. But again, Asheville’s water is not potable yet.

So if your water bill comes from the City of Asheville, do not drink the water or use it for cooking or toothbrushing (or, if you must use it, be sure to boil it for at least one minute before use).

Asheville Water Resources spokesperson Clay Chandler has explained on multiple occasions why the water in south Asheville and Arden is not potable yet, so I’ll recap.

In a nutshell, water is, well, fluid, and it can mix in various places throughout the system.

So even though you live down south, and your water is very likely coming from the City of Asheville’s Mills River treatment plant, where it is being filtered and treated, it could be mixing with City of Asheville water from North Fork Reservoir, where the water is being filtered and treated to a degree, but not enough to where it’s potable.

The upshot is the two water sources could be mixing, and you cannot assume that your water down south is suitable for consumption. So continue using bottled water for drinking and cooking, or boil it if you have no other option.


Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting during this crisis is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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Analysis: ‘Valley’ of AI journey risks human foundational, unique traits | National

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www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-02 14:21:00

(The Center Square) – Minority benefit against the majority giving up “agency, creativity, decision-making and other vital skills” in what is described as a valley of an artificial intelligence journey is likely in the next few years, says one voice among hundreds in a report from Elon University.

John M. Stuart’s full-length essay, one of 200 such responses in “Being Human in 2035: How Are We Changing in the Age of AI?,” speaks to the potential problems foreseen as artificial intelligence continues to be incorporated into everyday life by many at varying levels from professional to personal to just plain curious. The report authored by Janna Anderson and Lee Rainie of Elon’s Imagining the Digital Future Center says “the fragile future of some foundational and unique traits” found only in humans is a concern for 6 in 10.

“I fear – the time being – that while there will be a growing minority benefitting ever more significantly with these tools, most people will continue to give up agency, creativity, decision-making and other vital skills to these still-primitive AIs and the tools will remain too centralized and locked down with interfaces that are simply out of our personal control as citizens,” writes Smart, a self-billed global futurist, foresight consultant, entrepreneur and CEO of Foresight University. “I fear we’re still walking into an adaptive valley in which things continue to get worse before they get better. Looking ahead past the next decade, I can imagine a world in which open-source personal AIs are trustworthy and human-centered.

“Many political reforms will reempower our middle class and greatly improve rights and autonomy for all humans, whether or not they are going through life with PAIs. I would bet the vast majority of us will consider ourselves joined at the hip to our digital twins once they become useful enough. I hope we have the courage, vision and discipline to get through this AI valley as quickly and humanely as we can.”

Among the ideas by 2035 from the essays, Paul Saffo offered, “The first multi-trillion-dollar corporation will employ no humans except legally required executives and board, have no offices, own no property and operate entirely through AI and automated systems.”

Saffo is a futurist and technology forecaster in the Silicon Valley of California, and a consulting professor at the School of Engineering at Stanford.

In another, Vint Cerf wrote, “We may find it hard to distinguish between artificial personalities and the real ones. That may result in a search for reliable proof of humanity so that we and bots can tell the difference.”

Cerf is generally known as one of the “fathers of the internet” alongside Robert Kahn and for the internet protocol suite, colloquially known as TCP/IP.

Working alongside the well-respected Elon University Poll, the survey asked, “What might be the magnitude of overall change in the next decade in people’s native operating systems and operations as we more broadly adapt to and use advanced AIs by 2035? From five choices, 61% said considerable (deep and meaningful change 38%) and dramatic (fundamental, revolutionary change 23%) and another 31% said moderate and noticeable, meaning clear and distinct.

Only 5% said minor change and 3% no noticeable change.

“This report is a revealing and provocative declaration to the profound depth of change people are undergoing – often without really noticing at all – as we adapt to deeper uses of advancing AI technology,” Anderson said. “Collectively, these experts are calling on humanity to think intentionally and carefully, taking wise actions now, so we do not sleepwalk into an AI future that we never intended and do not want.”

In another question, respondents answered whether artificial intelligence and related technologies are likely to change the essence of being human. Fifty percent said changes were equally better and worse, 23% said mostly for the worse, and 16% said mostly for the better.

The analysis predicted change mostly negative in nine areas: social and emotional intelligence; capacity and willingness to think deeply about complex concepts; trust in widely shared values and norms; confidence in their native abilities; empathy and application of moral judgment; mental well-being; sense of agency; sense of identity and purpose; and metacognition.

Mostly positive, the report says, are curiosity and capacity to learn; decision-making and problem-solving; and innovative thinking and creativity.

Anderson and Rainie and those working on the analysis did not use large language models for writing and editing, or in analysis of the quantitative data for the qualitative essays. Authors said there was brief experimentation and human realization “there were serious flaws and inaccuracies.” The report says 223 of 301 who responded did so “fully generated out of my own mind, with no LLM assistance.”

Results were gathered between Dec. 27 and Feb. 1.

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Trump urged to reconsider order gutting agency that gives grants to libraries, museums

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ncnewsline.com – Shauneen Miranda – 2025-04-02 13:00:00

SUMMARY: On March 14, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to dramatically reduce funding for seven federal agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which awarded $266.7 million in 2024. The order aims to eliminate non-essential functions and cut agency personnel to legal minimums. The move sparked backlash from library and museum organizations, warning it would severely impact early literacy programs, internet access, job assistance, and community services. Critics urged Congress to intervene, while the administration framed the cuts as part of efforts to reduce government waste under the U.S. DOGE Service initiative led by Elon Musk. 

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Raleigh City Council discusses transforming area near Lenovo Center, hears concerns

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www.youtube.com – ABC11 – 2025-04-02 08:44:01


SUMMARY: Raleigh City Council is considering a major redevelopment project near the Lenovo Center that would create a new sports and entertainment district with high-rise buildings, restaurants, shops, and upgraded arena facilities. The proposal, supported by city leaders and the Carolina Hurricanes—who agreed to stay for 20 more years—has drawn both excitement and concerns. Students and staff from nearby Cardinal Gibbons High School support the project but worry about pedestrian safety and construction impacts. City leaders suggested annual reviews to address ongoing issues. The council postponed rezoning decisions until April 15 to allow for more discussion and public input.

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New details are emerging about the bold new development that could transform the area around Raleigh’s Lenovo Center, creating a new entertainment district around the arena in west Raleigh.

More: https://abc11.com/post/raleigh-city-council-will-discuss-future-including-wake-bus-rapid-transit-project-housing-security/16114907/
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