Whether a power outage is due to a storm, balloon, downed airplane, lightning strike, chewing animal or fallen tree, Pepco’s emergency preparedness team and line crews stand ready to restore power as quickly as possible.
On Tuesday at its service center in Rockville, Pepco employees demonstrated scenarios where a tree limb had brought down a live wire, and a mylar balloon had sparked a fire that caused a power outage.
Never touch a live wire or remove debris atop the wire. Call 311 instead, Pepco employees advised. Think safety first, both for residents and utility workers, Pepco officials urged.
Pepco also suggested:
- Download Pepco’s mobile app at pepco.com/MobileAp to report outages and view estimated restoration times.
- Sign up for emergency alerts at pepco.com/Alerts
- Assemble an emergency storm kit. Include battery-powered radio, flashlight, a first-aid kit, battery-powered or windup clock, extra batteries, medications, multi-purpose tool and list of important/emergency phone numbers.
- Have a supply of bottled water and easy to prepare foods to least at least 72 hours.
- Keep a flashlight with fresh batteries on each floor of the holuse.
- Enroll in the Emergency Medical Equipment Notification Program at pepco.com/EMENP if you rely on electricity to power life-support equipment in your home.
- Identify a location for you and your family in case of an extended outage.
- Review the manufacturer’s instructions for safe operations of your generator. Do not connect a generator directly to your home’s wiring and never use a generator indoors or any enclosed area.
Last year, power outages occurred less frequently than ever before. Pete Pederson, manager of emergency preparedness, explained that was due to Pepco beefing up its tree trimming around wires, and new smart equipment that identifies the problem and flips switches to keep power on for those not directly affected.
During the past four to five years, Pepco has reduced the time customers have been without power by almost 60%, Pederson said.
