25 January, 2026 Ice Accumulation Drives Outages Across the Area, DREMC Crews Responding
Summary
6700 members are without power across DREMC’s service area, with Maury County the hardest hit. Offices will be closed Monday, January 26.
Duck River Electric Membership Corporation (DREMC) crews are actively responding to significant system damage caused by Winter Storm Fern, which continues to bring heavy ice across southern Middle Tennessee.
As of 3:40 p.m., 6,728 members are without power across DREMC’s service area. Maury County remains the hardest hit, with an estimated 5,100 outages concentrated in the Mt. Pleasant, Williamsport, Sante Fe, Culleoka, and surrounding communities.
Office Operations for Monday, January 26
Due to the ongoing impacts of Winter Storm Fern and the state of emergency declared by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, all DREMC offices will be closed on Monday, January 26. This decision aligns with multiple closures across the region, including local school systems and government facilities.
Although buildings will be closed, DREMC member service representatives will remain fully available by phone and email to assist members. Importantly, office closures will not affect ongoing restoration work. Line crews, contractors, system operators, and field personnel will continue working to restore power as safely and efficiently as possible.
Ice‑Related Damage Across the System
“Restoring power has been a very slow process today. There’s extensive damage in Maury County, and ongoing ice is continuing to break trees and limbs — knocking out power we’ve already restored and creating hazardous conditions for crews and other emergency personnel,” said Steven Hopkins, DREMC Director of Operations for the Columbia district. “Everyone wants to know when power will be restored, but conditions remain challenging, and we do not expect significant progress today. Crews have worked all day, and engineers and field personnel continue assessing damage as roads are cleared to allow access for trucks and equipment.”
The majority of outages are the result of trees outside DREMC’s right‑of‑way falling onto power lines and poles under the weight of accumulating ice. Crews have reported leaning and broken poles, downed lines, and large limbs and entire trees on conductors. Conditions remain hazardous and continue to evolve as temperatures stay below freezing and wind gusts cause more damage as ice-covered trees and limbs fall.
Restoration Priorities
“Our crews are restoring power in a deliberate order, starting with critical infrastructure and the main lines that serve the most members,” said James Wright, DREMC President and CEO. “We can’t restore individual locations until those larger pieces of the system are repaired.”
DREMC follows a standard restoration process to bring the greatest number of members back on safely and quickly:
- Safety hazards and downed lines.
- Transmission lines and substations.
- Main feeder lines.
- Critical facilities such as hospitals and emergency services.
- Neighborhoods and individual outages.
Safety Reminders
Members are urged to stay far away from downed power lines and assume every line is energized. If you see damage to the system, call 931‑684‑4621 and provide an address or location description so crews can be dispatched appropriately.
“Weather conditions can make downed lines harder to recognize,” says Brad Vincent, DREMC Safety Coordinator. “After storms like this, power lines can be hidden by ice, debris, or snow. The safest assumption is that every downed line is live — stay back and report it right away.”
Another critical reminder for anyone using a generator during an outage: please do so with extreme caution. Improper generator use can create life‑threatening hazards for both homeowners and lineworkers.
“DREMC doesn’t recommend connecting a generator directly to a home’s electrical system, but during long outages, some people may choose to do so,” said Vincent. “If that’s the case, please make sure your main breaker is turned off. Back feeding power onto the lines will put our crews in serious danger.”
Members should also ensure generators are operated outdoors, away from windows and vents, to prevent carbon monoxide buildup.
DREMC will continue to provide updates throughout the day as restoration progresses. Members can stay informed about restoration efforts with these online resources:
- Track outages in real time at www.dremc.com/map.
- Find Winter Storm Fern resources and updates at www.dremc.com/storm.
- Follow DREMC on Facebook for regular updates.
