Spring is starting to feel very summer-like, which means true summer weather is likely on its way. With summer, or in any season, we often think about incoming weather conditions, including the risk for severe weather. If storms do hit the area, like those in late March and early April, whose power is restored first? How do you know when yours is coming back on?
During storm restoration efforts, safety is always our top priority for our Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) team and our customers. After weather hits, commonly, a trail of debris may also accompany downed electrical equipment. Our highly trained crews have experience working in situations like this and always encourage people and pets to stay far away from downed wires and anything near them.
As we begin restoring service as safe and quick as possible, crews follow an order for how power is restored. Regardless of the type of severe weather causing interruption, the system for keeping customers safe and restoring power is the same:
- Repair the Main Line. Following a storm, priority is given to restoring circuits that deliver power to essential safety facilities. These include local hospitals, 9-1-1 call centers, water treatment facilities, police stations and fire departments. Restoring service to these customers allows them to others in the community safe during this situation.
- Target Large Areas of Impacted Customers. Next, I&M will look to restore electric service to the largest pockets of customers in the shortest amount of time. In some situations, a single repair can restore power to hundreds or thousands of customers.
- Service Smaller Clusters. As restoration efforts continue, I&M moves on to repair portions of circuits that restore service to smaller pockets of customers. This effort can help restore service to dozens of customers when completed.
- Restoring Individual Lines of Service. Approaching the final phases of restoration, work transitions to restoring power to individual properties. This may be a single home, business or apartment complex. This phase can be more time consuming after a major storm as there are several types of these repairs that must be done.
See if you can take power: Powering Up After the Storm
Knowing where to find information is important. Whether you are looking for outage maps or safety tips, stay safe and informed during a storm with these resources:
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