What to do when the power goes out

Call the PowerLine at (360) 992-8000 to report a power outage.

If your power goes out, please call us as soon as possible. We respond to outages 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

If your power goes out, be sure to immediately turn off all electrical appliances, especially heating or cooking units. That way when power is restored, the appliance does not come on automatically and create an unsafe situation.

Leave your porch light switched on, as well as a light inside your home, so you and our repair crews will know when service has been restored.
Turn down your thermostat and turn off the circuit breaker for your water heater. This will help reduce initial demand for electricity when power is restored. If that demand is too great, the system will overload and cause the power to go off again.
Turn off and unplug other electrical equipment, including VCRs, computers, television sets, stereos and microwave ovens. It will protect your equipment in case there is a change in voltage as the power comes back on. It's also a good idea to use a surge suppresser to protect your valuable electrical equipment and appliances.
Do not turn equipment on again until lights have returned to their normal brightness.
Open the refrigerator door as seldom as possible so cold air stays inside until the power comes back on. Remember, pork, poultry, fish and ground meats spoil quickly at room temperatures above 40 degrees. Other foods that spoil quickly include custards, creamed foods or any food containing mayonnaise.
Food will stay frozen for about two days in a full freezer, or about one day in a freezer less than half full. It helps to cover freezers with blankets and quilts. Food may be refrozen if it still contains some ice crystals. If in doubt, throw it out. Dry ice may be added to the freezer to help keep food frozen. Wear gloves and place it on top of cardboard or newspaper rather than directly on food packages.
Make sure you have one or more working flashlights at hand with extra batteries. Use caution if you light candles.

Please remember that when the power goes out, we're trying to get it restored to all customers as fast as we can. But we have to prioritize repairs to minimize outages. Repairs in rural areas often take longer than outages in urban areas because power lines are longer and may have more points of damage. If, after an outage, power is restored to your neighbors but not to you, please call us again.