I live in a central neighborhood in a medium sized city (Austin, TX). We had some thunderstorms this afternoon and my electricity went out, which got me thinking - I seem to remember when I was growing up (years ago), calling the power company to let them know of the outage was standard procedure, was/is there really any need to do so? Do their systems not automatically sense where there’s a problem? Is it different in rural areas than in the city?
It wouldn’t hurt to check their website - they probably mention what they’d prefer (and perhaps a special phone number). In most cases they still don’t have a way to automatically detect outages, especially localized ones.
There’s a phone number in the book (which I only saw when we last had an ice storm and we actually needed the phone book) - I figure it’s useful when there’s a chance they might not immediately know about it, like when it just affects four houses. I don’t bother calling when there’s an ice storm and the whole city is out of power for three weeks. The one time I did, they called me back (on my cell) when I was in the movie theater, along with everybody else, for the heat and light. Luckily I was in the bathroom. “We got your phone call - do you still not have power?” “We didn’t an hour ago - um, neither did anybody else. Within twenty miles.” “Okay, thanks.”
We lost power for 11 days last December, and I followed the progress of repairs on the power company’s twitter account on my BlackBerry. People were reporting crews and power restoration in their area, it was the only way to figure out when to go home. I haven’t found much use for twitter since then, but it was a lifesaver at the time.
…that interweb is not much help when the power is out!
Check with your neighbours and see how localized the problem is, it may just be your house, street, neighbourhood, etc… The radio or TV stations will report on any major problems.
There is no need to flood the power company with calls if they are already working on it but you should always report any downed lines, blown transformers, etc. if you see any.
Out here in the sprawling metropolis of Anaheim, CA, a call to the power company folks generally gets you a recording telling you about any outages that they are already aware of.
Of course, in Anaheim, the power company is the city Public Utilities. However, I suspect that SCE does the same thing. Go ahead and make the call. It can’t hurt anything.
Yeah, well I figured if zombywoof could post to the SDMB, he/she could could check the power company website. Assuming their site wasn’t down along with their power 
With our company it’s an automated system where you enter your home phone number. If they already know it’s out the 'puter tells you so. Else they have you leave a message. Mainly a no-harm-in-calling situation. Most outages involve a transformer switch blowing so I can usually tell how far away it is by the loudness and the delay between lights out and the kaboom. The breaker on the pole in the front yard makes a really loud KABOOM. I always call then. Far off ones not at all.
by calling they can map the outage and go to the more likely upstream failure spots.
on automated systems it may tell you if it has already been reported as well as the very useful estimate of time to restore the power.
That’s the way ours works (and sometimes you also get an estimate of the number of households affected). I cheerfully second your “very useful” comment.
I’ve never had a power outage last more that a day; does the electric company give some sort of credit for long (week+) outages?
Utilities charge by the power you’re using. If you’re not using power there is no charge. What kind of credit can they give? A “sorry, here’s some random money for your inconvenience”? I know cable companies do. Utilities are regulated quite differently.
Outages can take place on any scale. The power system is sort of fractal, like the artery and capillary system in the body. It branches and branches and gets smaller and smaller until it reaches your house. An outage can occur at any point in the system. It could affect just your house or your block or your neighborhood or a larger area.
Although utilities are actively seeking to implement new systems that would talk back to them when an outage occur (smart meters are the next big thing: invest now [disclaimer: 90% of all smart meter firms will go out of business before they finally get it right]) no such systems are in wide residential use today. The utility depends on your calling to find out where the problems are. Lightning strikes on transformers are a big issue during storms, but so are trees falling on the lines. These are ultimately small scale, so they persist even when the larger issues are repaired.
Always call. This is one reason (not the primary, but a good one) that telephone lines use a separate electric source than the power lines.
The Austin Energy number to report outages will tell you whether they already know about a problem in or around the reported location, and even gives an estimated time to repair.
The reason to call, would be to make sure that it isn’t an isolated problem with (for example) just your house - which they wouldn’t detect or fix without notification.
In both Upstate New York (disclaimer – this information is about 10 years out of date) and rural North Carolina, the utility companies actively seek call-ins of outages and have automated systems to take such calls. Duplicate reports from the same outage area are not an issue; they will sometimes give feedback that it has already been reported. This helps target the outage area, I believe, and enables them to nail down secondary damage – if a several-square-mile area is out because the transformer serving it got zapped in a storm, and one road within it also has lines down because of a tree falling across them, they can nail down the problem and not have to check lines through the entire area from such reports.
And before anyone asks, I asked the question directly of a power company spokesperson after an ice storm: underground lines are cost-effective only where there is a dense concentration of people (e.g., downtown areas) and for obvious (excavation) reasons are costly to repair. It is actually substantially more cost-effective to replace downed lines, transformers, etc., every couple of years as needed than to try to bury lines in a suburban or rural area. Even in an area with a propensity for violent storms this still holds ture more often than not.
never mind
Yes; they don’t bill you for any electricity until the power comes back on.
Yes.
You need to open a window, lean out, and shout:
Heeeeeyyyyyyyy you guyyys!!!
(note: if you are politically agitated at the time, you may want to shout “hey, I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it from you guys anymore!”)
Good question - the last time there was an extended outage I was living with my parents, so I don’t know. My house now is a block from a substation, and the power hasn’t gone out once in the four years I’ve lived here, so I couldn’t tell you.
Whenever we get new phone books, there’s a peel-off magnet attached to the front with the local number to call in case of a power outage. It even glows in the dark.
I can only assume the gas and electric company wants us to call to let them know what’s going on.
Living in a rural area and I opted for the company to put in a meter that attaches to the phone line to call in my readings once a month rather than having to go out and read it myself.
I don’t know for sure, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all to find that there’s a battery backup in it that allows it to call in an SOS if it loses upstream power.
I also wouldn’t be surprised to find out that it can shut me off if I don’t pay my bill for a couple of months. Don’t plan to test that one though.