Have you ever watched a video or TV show where a person is cooking a meal, then suddenly they snap their fingers and the meal is plated and ready to eat? That’s called a jump cut.
While we wish we could “jump cut” from a power outage to power restoration, it often takes a lot more effort and people to make it happen.
At United Electric, we are accustomed to members’ questions about power outages and why it can take time to get the lights back on. Given our reliance on electricity, there’s simply never a good time to be without it.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the restoration process to help members understand what may be happening when the power is out.
- We need you. When your power goes out, it might be just at your home or a small section of your neighborhood. There is a chance we may not know about it, and no 1 has reported it. We rely on you to let us know if your power is out.
- Our employees might be affected, too. Because United Electric is a local electric cooperative owned by the members we serve, our employees are local. They are your neighbors, friends, and familiar community volunteers. When you’re without power, our people might be, too.
- It’s a team effort. Every 1 of United Electric’s employees works to get your power restored as soon as possible. Our member service representatives take your calls, engineers and field staff survey damage, our vegetation management team clears hazards, dispatchers organize crews, and communicators keep everyone informed of progress or potential dangers. When your power goes out, we all work together as quickly and safely as possible to restore it.
- We assess the situation first. Every outage is different, and we don’t know how dangerous it is or whether equipment might need to be replaced. When responding to outages, we first need to see what happened, then figure out which materials we need and a plan for how to fix the problem(s) without compromising electric flow for the rest of our members.
- Restoration is normally prioritized by the largest number of members we can get back on in the shortest amount of time. Our crews focus on responding first to public safety issues and critical services such as hospitals. Then we complete work that impacts the largest number of people first.
- Co-op employees face many dangers. Besides working around high-voltage electricity, our crews are on alert for wild animals, weather elements, falling trees, and fast-moving cars. If you ever drive past 1 of our vehicles, please do so slowly.
- Flickering lights are a good thing. Some folks mistake flickering lights for outages, but these “blinks” are important because they indicate our equipment worked and prevented a possible outage likely caused by wayward animals or stray tree limbs on the lines.
- You need a backup plan. We do our best to help those who need it, but if you depend on electricity for life support purposes, you must have a backup plan. Remember, we don’t always know how long restoration efforts will take. If you’re unsure what to do, call us so we can help you prepare an emergency location.
- Employees have to plan and eat. If you ever see our trucks in a restaurant parking lot while your power is out, know that sometimes our employees huddle in a safe, common area to map out their strategy for getting your power back on. Also, our crews work long, hard hours during outages and need to take time for meals, just like everyone else.
- Sometimes it’s a waiting game. Our portion of the power grid is connected to other electric utilities, and we maintain positive relationships with power providers interconnected to our system. If our outage is due to an issue from their feed into our system, we must let them repair it and be mindful of what they’re going through to fix it. Power disruptions are inevitable from time to time. If the lights go out, know your co-op team is working as quickly and safely as possible to restore power.