When your power goes out, there are a number of steps for our crews and staff 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 shortest amount of time. The process follows a sequence based on the design of our electric distribution system. 1043760442459/47778
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 substation transforms power from 110,000 volts to 7,200 volts before sending power to our distribution system through feeder lines.
- Feeder lines. We have 33 feeders throughout our 112-square-mile service territory. Feeder lines are also referred to as main distribution lines. Tap lines come off of the 600-amp feeders.
- Tap lines. They come off the distribution lines and serve groups of homes or businesses. Tap lines come off of the feeder with a smaller conductor and carry 7,200 volts to a transformer that transforms the voltage to a usable voltage for commercial and residential use.
- Individual services. Also referred to as service drops or secondaries, these insulated lines serve individual homes. Often, they are the lines that go directly from a pole to your house.
Above all, safety is our priority — for our employees, first responders, and our members. At times, especially during emergency situations, that might mean we take additional 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.
Our crews diligently work to restore your power. As soon as they determine the cause of the outage, they begin to work on removing branches, making repairs or replacing equipment.
If you have an outage, call (877) 853-1388 or sign up for our outage texting service by texting “penlight” to 857-00 and following the prompts sent to your device. Cellphone numbers must be registered to your account — call (253) 857-5950 to do so. 142910218818/57410
To find out more information during a larger event, you can use a battery-powered laptop, smartphone, or tablet and go to our Outage Map. Updates are based on a certain threshold of members without power and availability of information.