How we restore your power!
Although the GELD electric distribution system has been designed and maintained to endure small storms and interruptions, there are times when unforeseen events can result in loss of power to our customers. These events can range from small, localized outages to widespread damage to the region’s electrical grid system. No matter the cause, it is our goal to restore your power as quickly and safely as possible.
Severe weather is not always the cause of service interruptions. Sometimes equipment failures or wildlife (squirrels, birds, tree frogs) can cause problems with the electrical system, and smaller outages occur. In these instances, customer calls or outage messages sent from GELD’s outage management system alert our team to the outage. We send a crew to investigate, and issues are resolved in a timely manner.
When severe weather strikes, ensuring public safety becomes our number one priority during and immediately following a storm’s impact.
We ask that you stay clear of downed electrical lines. Once main roads are opened, GELD begins the process of assessing the damage. This is obtained through customer calls, police dispatch reports and physical inspections. A strategy is then developed to restore electrical service in an orderly fashion, focusing first on critical care facilities and large areas of homes that can be restored using the least amount of resources.
The restoration process begins with our primary lines, followed by individual transformer issues and finally secondary lines to any remaining homes and businesses. Repairs to primary lines typically result in the largest number of customers being restored at once. However, as the restoration process continues, the damage becomes more localized, requiring more resources and time to restore a fewer number of customers. Smaller areas of customers are restored next, followed by customers with damage to their individual service drops.
At this point in the process if you are still without power, it may indicate a separate issue at your home that requires repair by an electrician. When restoration is complete in an area, GELD crews will investigate individual service issues reported by customers after the majority of issues have been cleared. They will notify you if an electrician is needed. Please note that GELD linemen are not certified electricians and are not permitted to perform any work that would require an electrician. Click here to see who’s responsible for repairs to your electric service.
Throughout any service interruption, we try to provide regular updates of our progress. We hope to add an interactive outage area on our web site in the near future. In the meantime, your cooperation and care during a prolonged outage will help ensure the safe restoration of your electric service.