Outage Information

You can rest assured that our professionals at Pacific Power do their utmost to protect the reliability of your electric supply. Still, outages sometimes happen.

To better prepare you and your family in the case of a power emergency, below are some tips on what to do during an outage, how we work to restore power, how to stay safe at home and the primary causes of power outages.

Be prepared for outages
What you can do when an outage occurs
What we do during an outage
Outage safety
Common causes of outages

Be prepared for outages

To be best prepared for an outage, put together an outage kit, including flashlight with extra batteries, battery-operated alarm clock, manual can opener, battery-powered radio, bottled water and non-perishable food items.

What to do when an outage occurs

Before you call us, check your breakers or fuse box to determine if the cause of the outage is a blown fuse or tripped breaker. Look for lights at your neighbors' homes to see if they are affected.
If it's not a breaker or fuse box, call to report the outage at 1-877-548-3768 (1-877-LITESOUT). To help process your information more quickly, keep your account number handy. We work hard to keep outage information current, so a recorded message may inform you that your outage was already reported. Please call only once to report your outage. The company may request you call again later for outage updates.
Turn off all electrical equipment to prevent overloading the circuits in your home — and the company’s electrical system — when power is restored. Most major appliances can be turned off at your breaker box.
If your lights are very dim or are unusually bright when the power returns, turn off the power at the breaker or fuse box and call again. There may still be a problem.
Be sure and check in on any friends and neighbors who may need extra help.

What we do during an outage
Learn more about our outage restoration process .

Restoring power is a team effort. Somtimes during a storm, the service mast (see diagram) can be pulled away from a house.

If the power goes out, the service mast will need to be repaired before we can safely switch power on. Our crews can only work on company-owned equipment, so if you ever need to replace a mast - which is your property - be sure to contact a licensed electrician to make the repairs. Find listings online or in your local phone book.

Your safety matters
We want to help keep you safe during an outage and throughout the year. If you see a downed line:

Call us immediately at 1-877-548-3768, if you see a downed power line. Don’t touch it. Keep everyone, including pets, out of the area. You cannot visually determine whether or not a downed line is "live."

Do not touch a person if a power line is touching them. Call 911 immediately.

If a power line falls across your vehicle, stay in the car and wait for emergency personnel to de-energize the line. If your vehicle is on fire and you are in imminent danger and you must get out of the vehicle, JUMP — with both feet together — as far from the car as possible. If a part of your body touches the car and the ground at the same time, you could be electrocuted.

Learn more about how to stay safe during an outage.

Key causes of power outages

Trees, limbs or branches knocked down by wind, snow or ice into power lines.
Lightning striking a transformer or other electrical facilities.
Car accidents where utility poles are knocked over or sway enough to knock the lines together and trip off the circuit.
Equipment overload, especially on hot days when air conditioning usage is high, or during extremely cold weather when electric heaters are turned up throughout the electrical system.
Digging too close to lines or cutting a line.
Animals that contact the lines.
Circuit overloads within your own home. Check your fuses and breakers first. If they continue to trip off, call a local electrician to handle the problem.

To report an outage or a downed power line, please call 1-877-LITESOUT (548-3768). For more information on outages, contact 1-888-221-7070.