Close to 200 homes in the Grassy Pond community were left without power for several hours on Wednesday as Duke Energy employees repaired utility poles damaged by a logging truck earlier in the day.

The accident occurred shortly after noon in the vicinity of Ellis Ferry Road. Two utility poles were replaced. Duke Energy representatives originally believed the power outage was caused by simple maintenance work done periodically to continue the utility provider's consistent service to the area.

"When power goes out you first think it must be weather related or maintenance work is being done," said Duke Energy media representative Andy Thompson. "But in this case it looks like a mishap occurred."

According to Duke Energy, approximately 178 customers were left in the dark for close to four hours on Wednesday. There were also reports of homes losing phone service as a result of the accident.

Grassy Pond resident Charles Blair was one of those monitoring the situation. However, the fact he was unable to get an answer as to when electricity would be restored was a concern.

"I called them several times, only to be sent to a system wanting me to place a report," Blair said. "At first, we were told things would be back on by 12:30 (p.m.), and then 4 (p.m.). Some of the residents out here have health problems... my true concern is for them."

Customers once again were able to receive utility service around 5 p.m. According to Duke Energy, their goal is to restore power for most customer outages in three hours or less. While the outage was small compared to others the utility provider deals with in its large service area, it's not a situation that Duke Energy likes to deal with on a regular basis.

"That's not a lot; fairly small compared to others we deal with in larger areas like Mecklenburg County," Thompson said. "But we don't like electricity service being interrupted at all for our customers. Everything we do has them in mind."