How Power is Restored
We concentrate our initial restoration efforts in the areas and on the power lines that restore electricity to the greatest number of people in the shortest period of time. We place emphasis on vital community services, such as hospitals, emergency services, public safety, and water and sewage stations. Please be patient, and we will restore your electric service as soon as we possibly can.
Outage Updates
Use our outage map to view current outages.
Follow TCEC on Facebook or Twitter for updates during widespread outage situations.
Loud Noises During Storms
Many people think that the loud noise they heard was the sound of a transformer exploding, due to lightning or other extreme conditions. This was probably not the case – the noise could have been a fuse blowing. Our power lines use fuses in a similar manner to the way you use fuses in your home. These fuses protect parts of our distribution system when severe weather strikes.
If a tree falls into a line, lightning strikes, or some other disruptive condition takes place, the fuse can blow to isolate the trouble and prevent surges from reaching other customers on our system. The noise can be substantial, leading many people to think something has exploded.
When reporting an outage, it is very helpful when you tell us you heard a loud noise because it helps us isolate the location of problems on our lines, which allows us to restore your electrical service more efficiently.
Why Power Blinks
The power lines that serve your home have a variety of protective devices designed to keep your power on during storms and other severe weather. There are several reasons your lights might blink during a storm, but the most common cause is tree movement.
Despite our best efforts to keep trees near our lines trimmed on a regular basis, strong winds can cause those trees to make contact with our wires. When that happens, your lights may dim, or you might lose power for a few seconds. It is very important that our members allow us to trim trees near power lines to minimize these types of disruptions.