Why power goes out
Planned outages: We sometimes interrupt service for maintenance work. We work to inform you and your
community in advance of such outages.
Unexpected outages: Equipment, weather and tree problems cause most outages.
Here’s a breakdown:
- Animal contact 11%
- Human accidents, vandalism, etc. 7%
- Miscellaneous such as mechanical damage, construction error, fire, etc. 7%
- Fallen trees and tree growth 20%
- Weather such as lightning, wind, rain, snow, heat, cold and ice 27%
- Equipment wear and tear 29%
Momentary outages: Power outages of less than 5 minutes are considered momentary. Momentary outages are caused by wildlife,
weather or trees making brief contact with our electric lines, or by contractor dig-ins into underground facilities. In many instances, our
electrical system can reset itself within minutes. Other times, a repair crew is sent to fix the problem.
Power restoration sequence
- Repair live wires and address potentially life-threatening situations.
- Communicate with American Transmission Company to address any issues with their transmission lines.
- Fix substation equipment.
- Restore main distribution lines.
- Repair secondary lines serving neighborhoods.
- Fix service lines to individual homes and businesses.
