Outside, the wind howls. Inside, the lights flicker. Somewhere, the full force of the storm exerts itself and your electricity goes out completely. You call your local Jackson EMC office to report the outage. Now what happens?

First, your report goes into the Outage Management System, which analyzes outage reports to pinpoint the source of the problem. A Jackson EMC crew will be out making repairs even before the storm blows away. In the event of a severe widespread outage, other cooperatives send crews and equipment to work with Jackson EMC to restore power to customers as quickly as possible. They start making repairs at the place that affects the most customers – transmission towers – and work inward from there.

Because transmission towers and lines supply power to transmission substations, a broken transmission line or substation problem can affect tens of thousands of customers. Any damage to transmission towers and lines or substations will be repaired before more localized problems.

If outages persist when transmission towers, lines and substations are operational, crews look for damage or problems at local distribution substations. Correcting problems at this point may restore power to thousands of customers served by the local substation.

If your subdivision is in the dark while the homes across the road still have electricity, repair crews will look for damage along main distribution supply lines. These lines take power from local substations to discrete areas such as towns and neighborhoods. When the damage is repaired, power should be restored to all the homes served by the line.

Now you see the street lights come on. All your neighbors' homes look bright and cozy. If your lights still don't work, the problem is probably close to home. Tap lines carry power from the main distribution supply lines to the utility pole or underground transformer outside of homes and buildings. Service lines make the final journey to the individual house or building to supply its power. Damage or breakage to either of these lines can result in a power outage in the building they serve. You may need to notify your local Jackson EMC office again so that a crew can be dispatched to repair the tap line or service line. If damage is located at the service entrance of your home or building, you will need to call an electrician to make repairs.

Jackson EMC wants you to be safe. Damaged and downed power lines can carry dangerous levels of electrical current. Stay well clear, and report any damaged lines to your Jackson EMC office. For tips on storm preparedness, visit the Storm Center page.