Storm Safety
During or after a storm, use extreme caution near wires and power lines. Please treat all wires and power lines, including those on the ground, as though they are live and deadly. Never touch downed power lines or anything touching fallen lines, and don't walk underneath overhead equipment, lines or wires. Also, please remember to make certain that children stay away from all power lines and equipment!
We offer the following tips to help you during a storm or outage:
- Be prepared—Have on hand a number of working flashlights, at least one battery-operated radio, an extra supply of batteries, drinking water, canned food, one corded or cell phone (cordless phones will not work during a power outage).
- If you depend on electric-powered life support equipment, such as a respirator, make sure that you have notified us.
- Stay away from downed power lines—Treat all downed power lines as though they were live and dangerous. Don't touch the lines and don't touch anything coming in contact with the lines.
- Disconnect sensitive appliances—VCRs, televisions and microwaves to avoid potential power surge damage when electricity is restored.
- Turn off any appliances—Leave one light on so you will know when power is restored.
- Keep refrigerator and freezer doors shut—Food will stay six to nine hours in a refrigerator without spoiling. Frozen foods will keep about 24 hours.
- Use generators safely—Customers using generators should make sure their wiring system is disconnected from our system before operating the generator. When using a portable generator, make sure the main circuit breaker in your electric service panel box is in the Off position. If you have a fuse box instead of breakers, pull out the main block, remove the fuses and reinsert the empty block. This is necessary to prevent your generator's electricity from going back into our system, which could endanger the lives of line crews and your neighbors. Also, it's required by the National Electrical Code.
- Use generators outdoors only—Never use a generator inside buildings, vehicles, basements, or any enclosed areas - the exhaust fumes contain poisonous carbon monoxide and can kill or cause serious injury.
In addition, please leave damaged poles alone! Handling or cutting utility poles, or burning them in your fireplace, woodstove or furnace, exposes you to the chemicals used to treat and preserve these poles.
Finally, if you see repair crews working on downed power lines, please drive carefully! Expect delays and exercise caution when driving near any of the hundreds of repair crews working to restore your power.
