South Central Power strives to provide a high level of service reliability. However, events beyond the control of the cooperative make it impossible to guarantee uninterrupted service, such as:
- Automobile accidents
- Unforeseen equipment failures
- Lightning storms
- Freezing rain
- Snow
- Other occurrences of nature
That’s why emergency services personnel are on call 24 hours a day as part of South Central Power’s established emergency procedures. Employees are called as needed to restore service.
What to Do if Your Power Goes Out
- Check breaker box: Check your fuse or breaker box for blown fuses or tripped breakers. If they’re okay, see if your neighbors are without power
- Report immediately: You can report via the South Central Power app or on the My Account section of the website. You can text OUT to 85700 if you have enrolled in Outage Alerts. Or, call (800) 282-5064 to report.
- Turn off electronics: Turn off all electrical equipment and appliances that were on when the outage occurred to help avoid damage when power is restored.
- Listen to radio: Listen to the radio (battery-powered, also have backup batteries) for updates on major storms or check for outage information on our website.
- If lights are dim: If your lights are very dim or too bright once the power is restored, turn off the power at the breaker box or fuse box and report.
Be Prepared for a Power Outage
Use the documents below to find out how to be prepared for a power outage even before one affects you, as well as how South Central Power restores electricity when a power outage does occur.
- Be Prepared for Unforeseen Power Outages
- Steps to Restoring Power
- Emergency Management Associations and Red Cross Shelters
- Generator Safety Tips
Stay Safe During Car/Pole Accidents & Downed Wires
Downed wires from a car/pole accident or any other reason can be more dangerous than it first seems.
- The entire site could be energized from a downed wire, so assume all downed wires are energized, even if you think they may be phone or cable wires.
- If you hit a utility pole, do not get out of your vehicle, especially if you see downed wires.
- There may be wires you can’t see. If your airbag has deployed, it may limit your vision, and an energized power line you can’t see may be on the ground. If you attempt to get out, you may be in grave danger.
If you see downed wires:
- Stay at least 35 feet away from the downed wires. The ground or anything the lines are touching (branches, your car or your house for example) could be energized.
- Do not drive over the downed lines or attempt to move them even with a stick or a broom. Keep
pets and children away as well. - Call 911 and report the lines down to the cooperative on the app (where you can leave
comments) or by calling (800) 282-5064.
If you are involved in a crash:
- Call 911. Tell anyone who approaches your car to stay away. Wait for trained professionals to tell
you when it’s safe to leave your vehicle. Only leave the car if it’s on fire. In case of fire, exit
safely. Never touch the vehicle and the ground at the same time. Instead, open the door, rotate
your body until you are facing out, put both feet on the running board, hop out of the vehicle,
landing both feet on the ground at the same time. Do not touch the car with your hands or arms
as you jump. Keep your arms down by your side. - After you exit the vehicle, hop or shuffle to get away. Separating your feet can create two contact
points with the ground and can result in a shock if the ground is energized by a fallen wire. Hop
or shuffle away until you are at least 35 feet (about the length of a bus) from the vehicle and any
downed power lines. When hopping, keep your feet together. Don't lift a foot to run or walk.
When shuffling, keep both feet as close together as you can while sliding your feet in tiny steps.
Never lift a foot from the ground. - If you’ve crashed into a utility pole and someone tries to offer you assistance, tell them to stay
away. Shout if you have to – they are in danger, too! Tell them to stay at least 35 feet away from
the crash site and downed wires. Tell them you’ve already called 911 and help is on the way. - If you see someone else who has hit a utility pole with a vehicle, do not approach the crash. If
you’re in your own vehicle, stay in it. If you’re on foot, stay at least 35 feet away. Shout at others
to remain in their vehicle for their own safety. Call 911 immediately. Don't wait to see if
someone else has already called. If the occupants of the crashed vehicle begin to exit, shout at
them to stay in the vehicle. Unless the car is on fire, they’ll be safe there until help arrives. If the
crashed vehicle is on fire and you want to help from a distance: Stay at least 35 feet away from
the crash and downed lines to keep out of an energized area.
Why Did My Lights Flicker? Understanding Blinks & Surges
Have you ever noticed your lights blink during a thunderstorm? Or perhaps you’ve noticed a blinking microwave clock when you arrive home. When this happens, you’ve likely experienced a brief disruption to your electric service, which could result from a blink or power surge. While the symptoms of blinks and power surges can appear similar, what’s happening behind the scenes can be very different.
Brief service interruptions can be caused by damage from small animals or vegetation, like tree limbs,
making contact with a power line.
- Trees are the number one cause of these blinks.
- In 2019 alone, squirrels were responsible for more than 1,200 outages.
- Lightning can also cause blinks.
Why Does it Cause a Blink?
The blink is actually a breaker testing the power line to see if the damage was only there for a brief time
and the power can come back on. Blinks are good because it means the system is working as designed to prevent a longer outage. If your power blinks several times and stays out, it means the breaker tested
the damage and determined that a South Central Power Company line worker needs to repair the
damage.
Consider a Residential Surge Protection Device
Protect your home from surges with a Surge Safe™ SK Series surge protection device. Surge Safe is a high-quality, high-energy surge current diverting system designed to protect sensitive equipment from damaging transient voltage surges resulting from load switching, lightning strikes and more. Learn more.
Surges are brief overvoltage spikes or disturbances of a power waveform that can damage electronics.
Most electronics are designed to handle small variations in voltage and disturbances in the power
waveform. Rarely, power surges can reach amplitudes high enough to damage equipment.
- Surges are most often caused by lightning strikes.
- Surges can sometimes be caused by internal sources, like HVAC systems, large motors and
compressors, welders, or problems with equipment connected to your service. - Very rarely, damage to utility equipment may also cause surges.
Install surge protective devices (such as surge protector power strips) to safeguard sensitive electronics. If you’re experiencing frequent surges in your home or business and you believe the cause is internal, contact a qualified electrician to inspect your electrical system.
Both surges and blinks can be the result of an issue with other utilities. In that event, our system is to designed to respond to those events, and we work with the other utility provider to get the issue resolved as quickly and as safely as possible to minimize problems for our members.