What to do if the lights go off

• If the power goes off, check the fuses and breakers on the premises. Make sure to check the breakers below the meter pole as well as the ones in the house. Also check the lights and appliances in other rooms. If you still have power in some areas, most likely a fuse has blown or a circuit breaker has opened ? a warming of overloaded wiring or a defective appliance. Southern Iowa Electric does not repair appliances or maintain the wiring inside the residence. If we respond to an outage that has been caused by the members own wiring the member will be accessed a service charge.
• If all your power is off, check to see if your neighbors have power. This will help Southern Iowa Electric determine how widespread the outage may be. It could be a large outage or it could jut be your transformer causing the problems or a main breaker ? serving just you and several of your neighbors ? that has tripped.
• If you determined that the outage is not due to a problem at your residence or business, call Southern Iowa Electric at 641-664-2277 or 800-607-2027. Personnel are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week to take your calls. After hours Southern Iowa Electric uses The Cooperative Response Center to answer calls. The Cooperative Response System is staffed 24 hours a day and can answer a larger number calls than Southern Iowa Electric. When there is a widespread power outage, the telephone lines will become swamped and you may be put on hold or you may be asked to report your outage using an automated system.
• When reporting a power outage give ample information. Provide your name, location number or account number which appears on your billing statement, and the nature of the trouble.

What to Do During an Outage

• Stay away from downed power lines and broken utility poles. Please note the location and call us immediately. Even lines that look harmless can be dangerous.
• Once you have called us, there is no need to keep calling; your request will be handled as soon as possible. However, if you power is still out once your neighbors? has been restored you should call us again.
• When service is restored, overloaded lines could cause another outage. You can help prevent this by switching off your heating and cooling equipment and other appliances during the outage. Leave a light on so you?ll know when service is back on.
• Don?t keep checking the refrigerator and freezer. Food will keep much longer if the doors are left closed.
• Prepare a ?lights out? kit: keep a flashlight, spare fuses, and a battery-powered radio handy. Know where the electric service panel for your home is located and how to reset circuit breakers or replace blown fuses.

What Happens During a Power Outage?

Whether or not your are having trouble, PLEASE report broken insulators, broken poles, broken wires, poles about to wash out, trees rubbing against wires, wires sagging badly or touching, tree limbs on wires and any arcing or strange noises on the line.