When your power goes out, there are a number of steps Peninsula Light Company (PenLight) crews go through before they can turn your lights back on. Much of the process will be determined by the cause of the outage and how widespread it might be.
Power is restored according to a plan that enables us to help the greatest number of people in the least amount of time. The process follows a sequence that is based on the design of our electric distribution system.
We start at the source of the power and work our way to your house:
- Transmission line—This is the most important because it transmits 110,000 volts from the generating source to each of our 8 substations.
- Substations—Each transforms power from 110,000 volts to 7,200 volts, and then it sends power to our distribution system through our feeder lines.
- Main distribution lines—Also referred to as feeders, we have 33 of them throughout our 112-square-mile service territory.
- Tap lines—They come off the distribution lines and serve groups of homes or businesses.
- Individual services—Also referred to as service drops or secondaries, they are insulated lines that serve individual homes. Often, they are the lines that go directly from a pole to your house.
Safety is our top priority for our employees, first responders, and members. At times, especially during emergency situations, we may take more meters out of service to make an area safe. Even though we put special grounding equipment in place to secure the area, we ask anyone who comes across a downed power line to stay away from it.
Our crews diligently work to restore power. Once they find an outage’s cause they get to work removing branches, making repairs, or replacing equipment. Call (877) 853-1388 to report an outage or sign up for our outage text service by texting “penlight” to 857-00. Call (253) 857-5950 to register your cellphone number to your account. 11332
To stay updated during a larger event, use a battery-powered laptop, smartphone, or tablet and go to our Outage Map.
Follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Updates are based on a certain threshold of members without power and availability of information. 67880