Steps in Restoring Power

If an outage occurs, there are steps in restoring power. The origin and extent of the outage will determine which crews respond to make repairs.

Step #1 - Electric generation facilities contribute to the nation’s power supply. These facilities supply their energy to a network of transmission lines and substations. If the network delivery system isn’t operating properly, it can lead to a large-scale power outage, affecting hundreds of thousands of consumers. If a large-scale outage occurs at the generation and power grid level, this outage will be restored before anything else.

Step #2 - Once electricity is generated, delivered to the power plant’s substation and travels the nation’s power grid, it is then delivered to local substations. These substations are maintained by your electric utility. Critical services, industrial loads and residential services receive power from these substations. If an outage occurs at the local level, the utility will restore power to critical services, the largest group of residential users and industrial loads first. Critical services include emergency response agencies, water treatment plants, communication facilities and schools.

Step #3 - Once repairs have been made to critical services, industrial loads and the largest group of residential consumers in Step Two, and if outages persist, the utility will continue to make repairs until most of the residential outages are restored.

Step #4 - Once most of the residential outages are restored in Step Three, the utility begins repairing any remaining outages. These outages can occur at seasonal-use cabins, equipment or storage buildings.

Step #5 - If an outage has occurred due to a problem between the service meter and the home, the utility will make these repairs after steps one through four have been completed. If proper disconnect equipment is present at the electric meter, repairs between the electric meter and the home can be completed by a licensed electrician.