There are times that an outage is not the fault of an outside source and to determine if we need to send someone out to your location, follow these steps before calling HOTEC if the power goes out:
The electricity that powers your home can be a best friend or a deadly enemy—the difference is understanding. With a basic understanding of your home’s electrical system, you can address short circuits or blown breakers and keep the power flowing safely.
Your home wiring is just a number of loops, or circuits. A “live” wire brings current to a light, appliance or outlet. A “neutral” wire returns current to its source. Between your home’s inside wiring and
the outside power lines is a service panel.
The service panel contains fuses or circuit breakers that interrupt power to specific circuits in case of a short circuit or overload. If this happens:
- Unplug all affected appliances.
- Switch off power at the main switch.
- Try to determine the cause of the
problem and correct it if possible (an
overloaded circuit, a faulty plug, etc.). - Switch the circuit breaker that’s off
back to “On.” - If you have fuses instead of breakers,
replace the fuse that has a broken
metal strip with a new fuse of the
same rating—typically 15 amperes.
Never use anything other than a
fuse to replace a fuse; you could
cause a fire. - Restore power at the main switch.
Check to see if your neighbors have power. This will help HOTEC determine whether the trouble is caused by a transformer serving your home, or is more general in nature.
If a serviceman makes a call to your premises and finds the problem is not HOTEC's responsibility, you will be billed for a service charge to cover the expenses. On the contrary, if the outage is HOTEC's responsibility, there is no charge.
If you have any questions, please call us immediately.
Take these steps before a thunderstorm:
- Unplug electronic equipment before the storm arrives.
- Avoid contact with corded phones and devices, including those plugged in for recharging.
- Unplug appliances and other electric items such as computers, and turn off air conditioners. Damage from Mother Nature is beyond the control of the Co-op, such as power surges from lightning can cause serious damage.
- Avoid contact with plumbing and bathroom fixtures. They can conduct electricity.
- Stay away from windows and doors and stay off porches.
- Do not lie on concrete floors and do not lean against concrete walls.
- Avoid natural lightning rods such as a tall, isolated tree in an open area.
- Avoid hilltops, open fields, the beach or a boat on the water.
- Avoid contact with anything metal — tractors, farm equipment, motorcycles, golf carts, golf clubs and bicycles.
Take these steps during a thunderstorm:
- When thunder roars, go indoors! Move from outdoors into a building or car with a roof.
- Pay attention to alerts and warnings.
- Avoid using electronic devices connected to an electrical outlet.
- Avoid running water.
- Turn Around. Don’t Drown! Do not drive through flooded roadways. Just six inches of fast-moving water can knock you down, and one foot of moving water can sweep your vehicle away.
Take these steps after a thunderstorm:
- Stay Informed: Continue listening to local news or a NOAA Weather Radio to stay updated about severe thunderstorm watches and warnings. More severe thunderstorms could be headed your way.
- Contact Your Family and Loved Ones: Let your family and close friends know that you're okay so they can help spread the word. Text messages or social media are more reliable forms of communication than phone calls.
- Assess the Damage: After you are sure the severe weather threat has ended, check your property for damages. When walking through storm damage, wear long pants, a long-sleeved shirt and sturdy shoes. Contact us if you see power lines down and stay away from them at all times. Stay out of damaged buildings. Be aware of insurance scammers if your property has been damaged.
- Help Your Neighbor: If you come across people who are injured and you are properly trained, if needed, provide first aid to victims until emergency response team members arrive.
Outages occur for a number of reasons. In the event of a large or wide-spread outage, we prioritize repairs in order to get the largest number of members back on first.
- First, we check and repair any damaged transmission lines. These are the lines that bring power to our electric substations.
- Equipment or line repairs at substations will be done next in order to transfer power from transmission lines to the main distribution lines throughout our service area.
- After the substations are repaired, we turn attention to our distribution lines which carry electricity from substations to our members.
- Once all distribution lines are repaired, we begin working on service lines to individual locations.
Restoring power during inclement weather or after a large accident can be a big job. In a large scale outage event, HOTEC has resources on standby to assist in power restoration. We also maintain a 24-hour, 365 day-a-year dispatch center so if you should lose power, be assured we’re working as quickly as possible to get your lights back on.