Thousands Without Power in Sussex County After Major Outage

SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. – The Delaware Electric Cooperative (DEC) reported a major outage on Thursday afternoon, leaving thousands without power in the Lewes, Rehoboth, and Milton areas.

At approximately 2:45 p.m., the power company reported that roughly 4,882 homes were without power, and indicated that they were sending crews to investigate the cause of the outage.

Less than two hours later, crews were able to confirm that the outage was caused by a contractor accidentally cutting one of the primary power lines in the area.

As of 5:17 p.m., the DEC was able to restore power to about 3,800 homes through redirecting power to other lines. The cut line was responsible for feeding power to eastern Sussex County and will reportedly require a major fix.

The company says some members may be without power for three to six hours while crews dig up and repair the damaged power line. Updates will be made available as they occur.