Winter is coming, which means a lot of things, namely changing your clocks back and ensuring your home is ready to weather any storm the season brings.
Puget Sound Energy (PSE) knows our customers are busy with their own plans, so we work to assure reliability while also offering tips to make it easier for customers to stay comfortable when the power is out while stretching their energy dollars.
As we enter the Fall storm season, our grid operators and crews are prepared, and this includes the elevated preparation and response as inclement weather emerges in the forecast.
“Our crews are prepared and ready to deploy when outages occur and as soon as it’s safe to do so,” Director of Electrical Operations Ryan Murphy said. “Along with many large and small grid hardening projects, our crews inspect our more than 37,000 poles yearly, while reinforcing those and monitoring the more than 27,000 miles of cable in our territory. We’ve also done several reliability projects throughout the region.
We know being without power is inconvenient and some outages can be restored quickly, while others could last for several hours while crews work to safely restore power. PSE encourages customers to actively prepare their homes for storm season.
Tips:
- Make sure to have emergency supplies on hand at home and in your vehicle, such as extra batteries, flashlights and non-perishable foods
- Have a battery-powered radio ready to go
- Charge cell phones, portable batteries and mobile devices in case the power goes out
- Avoid opening and closing refrigerators and freezers more often than necessary. A closed refrigerator will stay cold for up to 12 hours.
- Turn off lights and unplug all appliances and sensitive electronic equipment, such as computers, to prevent an overload on your circuits when electric service is restored. Leave one light on to let you know when service returns.
- Download the myPSE app to track and report outages, check status and get estimated restoration times, or visit pse.com/outagemap
- Get additional information on ways you can prepare and more about how power gets restored here.
Safety first:
- Never touch or go within 35 feet of downed power lines because they might be energized. Call PSE at 1-888-225-5773 or 911 to report problems. Watch our new safety video here.
- Do not use a charcoal or gas grill to cook indoors. Never use a natural gas range for heating, or charcoal as an indoor heating source. This can cause a buildup of poisonous carbon monoxide gas.
- If you choose to use a portable home generator, read the manufacturer’s instructions for the safe operation of the generator. Do not operate generators indoors or in enclosed spaces to avoid the buildup of carbon monoxide.
- If you’re using portable heaters, keep them away from furniture, draperies and other flammable materials.
- Always use flashlights instead of candles.
Whether you’re buying a home, remodeling or just looking to spend less, you can use PSE’s rebates and offers to save on energy efficiency upgrades. The more efficient your home becomes, the lower your bills can get. Learn more at pse.com/lower.
