What to Do During a Power Outage

Power outages can be frustrating and scary, but don’t hesitate. Contact your local utility immediately to report your outage. Remember, AEP Energy only supplies the generation portion of your bill. Your local utility is responsible for the delivery of the power and maintenance during outages.
Outages are sometimes unexpected and often caused by weather conditions. Help relieve some frustration and worries by actively being prepared for power outages.
Don’t wait for an outage, be prepared.
Stock up on supplies to help you through an outage. Grab some flashlights, candles, or lanterns, batteries, water, non-perishable food, a battery operated radio, and a portable, reusable charger with a full charge for your cell phone. Ready.gov has a longer list of recommended items for a basic emergency kit that you can find here.
Contact your local utility.
When your power goes out make sure you report the outage to your local utility. Many companies allow their customers to report an outage online, but you can also give them a call.
Be aware of the weather conditions.
If you’re experiencing a summer outage, remember to drink plenty of fluids, take cool baths and showers, and move to a cool place if necessary to avoid heat illnesses.
Do what you can to stay warm during winter outages. Keep blankets in an easily accessible place. If you have a wood stove or fireplace, remember to have plenty of wood handy at all times. Make sure you know how to open your garage door manually if you need to get your car out to go somewhere warmer.
Read more about coping during extreme heat and cold from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Emergency Preparedness and Response page.
Keep your refrigerator and freezer doors closed.
Your refrigerated food will stay cold for about 4 hours and your frozen food will keep for up to 48 hours. Foodsafety.gov has a thorough list that can help you decide when to save or discard food depending on how long the outage lasted.
Stay calm. Stay patient.
An unexpected outage can alter your day and can be frustrating, but try to stay calm and patient. When an outage happens it can happen street wide, city wide, or state wide. Your local utility will work as quickly as they can to restore power to your home. If you have questions or need to report an outage, remember to call your local utility or reach them online.
Sources:
2. Ready.gov
3. Foodsafety.gov
4. Emergency.cdc.gov
 
AEP Energy is a certified Competitive Retail Electric Service (CRES) provider and as a Competitive Retail Natural Gas Service (CRNGS) provider. While it is an affiliate of AEP Ohio, AEP Energy is not soliciting on behalf of and is not an agent of AEP Ohio. AEP Ohio customers do not need to purchase any competitive retail electric service from AEP Energy to receive or to continue to receive non-competitive retail electric services from AEP Ohio.