Electricity is so central to our lives today that we need to have it available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We can always use news about how to use electricity more safely and efficiently. Researchers are trying to find innovative ways to use electricity in our homes and businesses. Occasionally, even the most reliable electric distribution system will experience outages. There are several things you can do to make this interruption in service less stressful. Congress has been debating the possibility of deregulating the electric utility industry. Find out more about the moves they are considering and how these changes might affect you.

If the Power Goes Off

Every electric distribution system is susceptible to occasional outages, which are usually caused by severe weather or accidents. If your power goes off, follow these steps:

1. Check your breaker box or fuse panel.
2. If there is a disconnect breaker below your meter, check to see whether a fuse is blown or the breaker is tripped. Reset the breaker by turning it off then back on.
3. If possible, check to see whether neighbors have power. This information is helpful in determining if the problem is an individual or line outage.
4. If all breakers or fuses are on but the power is off, call Crawford Electric at 800-677-2667 or 573-732-4415. Please have your account number handy to help us find you quicker. During a widespread outage, your call may be answered by our automated system.
5. Once you have reported the outage, please be patient.
6. Turn off all major appliances, furnaces and air conditioners. Then, after power has been restored, wait a few minutes to turn them on again.

Ideas for an emergency kit:

• Flashlights with fresh batteries
• Battery operated radio
• Backup heat source
• Bottled water

How we get the lights back on
Our goal is to restore service to the greatest number of members in the shortest amount of time. Because of the interconnected nature of an electric distribution system, we must start our work at the power source and work out to the individual services along the system. Hazardous conditions, such as downed power lines, must be attended to quickly.

These are the service restoration priorities:

1. Transmission lines: High voltage lines that move bulk electricity from a generating plant to a substation or between substations.
2. Substations: Substations are electrical facilities that contain equipment for switching or regulating the voltage of electricity. These lower the amount of electrical voltage from transmission lines so that the electricity can be transmitted through distribution lines. There are 13 substations on Crawford Electric's system.
3. Main distribution lines: These are the 7,200-volt lines that you see along roadways.
4. Tap lines: These are electric feeder lines with limited capacity that run from a main distribution line and serve small numbers of consumers.
5. Individual service: This is the line that runs from the pole transformer to your electric meter.

Installed on our system are a series of protective devices known as OCRs. These act like circuit breakers to confine an outage to a specific area and limit the number of members affected by a power interruption. For example, if a tree falls on a tap line only that line would be without service. Other members served from the main distribution line would still have service, although their lights may blink momentarily.

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