1. Who gets power back first?

The first responsibility in a major storm is for the power company to restore electricity to hospitals, police stations and other vital public services. At the same time, we must be certain that all real and potential hazards to the public, such as snapped or leaning utility poles, uprooted trees on the electric lines or fallen wires, are cleared.

Before we can restore service to your street, we must repair damaged substations, main electric lines and wires that feed power to streets such as yours. Next, we repair any downed or damaged wires between utility poles and individual homes.

2. What do you do when downed wires are reported?

Treat all wires — even those that are hanging or downed — as if they are "live" (energized). Don’t assume they are "dead" (de-energized). Customers can report any downed or hanging wires to the power company or their police or fire departments.

Upon receiving a report from a customer or a fire or police department about downed burning or live wires, we dispatch an employee to stand by the scene, warning others away until we have an opportunity to dispatch a crew to the scene to disconnect or isolate the wire from its electrical source. Customers should be advised to stay clear of all downed and hanging wires and not assume that they are deenergized.

In many storms, NU uses a patrol effort in strategic areas to plan a restoration process. These patrols also look for downed wires.

3. Are generators dangerous?

Some households use a backup generator to supply them with power during an outage. Proper installation of generators is essential to avoid electricity feeding back into our lines and endangering the lives of repair crews.

Before you buy a generator, make sure it’s the right size for your needs. Always have a qualified electrician install the generator, which must be connected to your home’s wiring through a double-throw, double-pole transfer switch. This will ensure that the house wires are isolated from the utility wires. You may need a town permit or an official inspection for the generator.

Generator exhaust is deadly, so it’s essential that the unit be properly ventilated. We recommend that the unit not be located indoors.

4. Why does the number of outages fluctuate so much?

Power outage numbers may increase during the storm restoration period in some areas for several reasons:

• As the power company patrols lines, it may discover outages that weren’t reported earlier.
• As more calls come into the power company customer service representatives, the outage reporting system gives more refined numbers.
• Branches that may have broken during the storm may come loose and fall onto lines causing additional outages.
• Depending on time of day, etc., customers may be at work or away from their homes and unaware of power outages to report, until they discover them upon return to their homes later in the storm restoration period.

Power outage numbers may decrease suddenly if large circuits that had been taken out of service by a storm are brought back into service.

5. Why do my neighbors sometimes have power and I don't?

You may be on one circuit and your neighbor down the street on another. A home generally has different circuits for different parts of the house. When a fuse blows or a circuit breaker trips, it is possible for one room to have lights and the other room to be dark. The same concept may hold true for the power lines serving your neighborhood.

6. Why don’t I lose my telephone service every time I lose electric power?