‘All hands on deck’: Dominion Energy discusses hurricane prep

Dominion Energy Operations Supervisor Josh Gray gives a hurricane preparation media tour at Dominion’s Kitty Hawk office, located at 5300 The Woods Road, on Monday, May 12, 2025. (Photo by Corinne Saunders)

By Corinne Saunders

KITTY HAWK — The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1, and Dominion Energy gave a media tour at its Kitty Hawk office, located at 5300 The Woods Road, on Monday, May 12, to discuss hurricane preparation practices for the company and its customers.

“During a storm, it’s all hands on deck,” Dominion Energy Operations Supervisor Josh Gray said. “We are here to restore that power as safely and efficiently as possible.”

Dominion Energy is the electricity provider for most customers across the Outer Banks, with the exceptions of Hatteras Island, Rodanthe and south, and Ocracoke Island.

Gray encouraged people to call in any power outages or downed lines to 866-DOM-HELP (866-366-4357) or to report them online at dom.com.

“It is very important for every customer to call in to report their outage,” Gray said. “Sometimes you’re on a transformer alone...Your neighbor can be attached to a different, separate line.”

He stressed that people should stay “at least 30 feet away from downed power lines,” because they could be energized and dangerous.

“It is very important for our first responders during a storm to be able to get out there safely and restore your lights,” he said.

Gray also encouraged people to have generators for their homes, but he noted the importance of correct installation.

“Generators are a very good tool for our customers to use, but they are dangerous,” Gray said. “Make sure those generators are hooked properly to your homes by a licensed electrician in order to service your home properly and not backfeed our lines to put our line workers in jeopardy.”

Gray also suggested that people have “go bags” packed with enough supplies for at least three or four days in the event of evacuations or time without power.

Dominion Energy began a “grid-hardening project” across its service area about eight years ago that is ongoing and geared toward preventing storm-related outages, Gray said.

This involves replacing each power pole that is damaged or aged out with a salt-treated, “bigger, thicker class pole” set deeper in the ground, he explained. These new poles are more resilient against downed trees from hurricanes and other storms.

After each storm, the company reviews what it could do better and has implemented some changes accordingly.

More “underground” transformers are being used, and those green boxes are now installed on concrete pads—part of which is buried in the ground—so that they are even more resistant to flooding, he said.

Monday’s media event came on the heels of National Hurricane Preparedness Week, May 4-10—a joint public safety campaign by the National Weather Service and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.

For more information and hurricane preparation tips from the National Weather Service, visit

www.weather.gov/rah/hurricaneprep.

To watch the video by Outer Banks Insider from Monday’s event, click the link below.

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