Medical Equipment
If you or a family member relies on medical equipment powered by electricity, create an emergency plan. We cannot assure any customer that a storm or equipment problem will not interrupt power. Remember: Keep emergency numbers near medical equipment and regularly test the equipment's back-up power sources.

Sump Pumps and Cordless Phones
Your sump pump runs on electricity; consider a battery back-up. Choose one that will switch on automatically if an outage occurs. Your cordless phone will not work during a power outage; consider a spare plug-in telephone for emergency situations.

Generators
Test your generator every 30 days to make certain that it is in good operating condition. Always follow manufacturer's directions for safe operation. If back-feeding your generator into your home's electrical system, ALWAYS use a transfer switch or disconnect your main breaker switch. Failure to do so could injure or kill our lineman working to restore our system, or bystanders who come into contact with wires on the ground.

Assemble An Emergency Kit
Prepare today by gathering a few basic emergency supplies and placing them in an emergency kit that's easy to locate in the dark. We suggest including these items:

• Working Flashlights
• Battery-Operated Radio for news & weather reports
• Batteries for Flashlights & Radio
• Candles & Matches
• Blankets
• Bottled Water (City customers will still have water to their faucets, rural customers may not)
• Canned or Dried Food
• A Corded Telephone (Cordless phones don't work when power is out.)

Other Things to Keep in Mind

• Above all else, stay safe! Review and remember the outage safety guidelines detailed above.
• Remember that electric garage door openers will not function during a power outage. Place your unit on "manual" if possible.
• Electric sump pumps and pumps used for rural customer's wells also will not work during a power outage.
• Protect electrical equipment from possible surges when power is restored. Use surge suppression devices to protect sensitive equipment such as computers, fax machines, answering machines, televisions, stereos and major appliances - or simply unplug them.
• A power outage may affect the operation of security and alarm systems.
• Protect food from spoiling by keeping freezer and refrigerator doors closed as much as possible. Food will stay frozen up to 48 hours if the door is not opened frequently.
• Remember: Even if you have gas heat, the furnace blower is powered by electricity. In cooler weather, keep the doors, windows and draperies closed to prevent heat loss. In warmer weather, blinds and curtains will help shield against the heat of the sun.
• If you leave your home or business, switch on a light that can be seen from the street. Our crews often "spot check" to ensure all customers have their electricity back on.
• For the safety of everyone, stay clear of crews, vehicles and equipment in the area.
• After the power is restored, you can safely reconnect appliances and equipment, and reset devices that operate on timers.
• Stoughton Utilities drinking water and wastewater treatment processes will be active during an outage.

Create a Family Plan
Parents...make sure your children know what to do if an outage happens while they are home alone or with a caretaker.

What happens during a momentary outage?
Our electric system is designed to sense unsafe or unstable conditions affecting the flow of electricity on a power line - a tree branch or an animal contacting our wires, or weather conditions such as wind, ice or lightning. When the system senses a disturbance, the electric current is automatically interrupted by a device called a recloser, similar to the fuses or circuit breakers in a home. In most cases, within a few seconds, these electrical devices will instantly and safely reclose the circuit to restore power. Occasionally, the device will retrip because the problem still exists on the line. This will cause momentary interruptions and flickering lights. Normally, after three consecutive operations, the recloser locks in the open position. This results in an extended outage requiring the attention of a utility crew.

Using reclosers and other devices for temporary disturbances actually increases the reliability of the circuit. Their operation means that our system is operating exactly as it was designed in order to protect the public from hazardous situations and minimize extended power outages. Without automatic reclosing, a power interruption would continue until a utility employee could travel to the location of the problem, determine the cause and manually restore the power.

Can anything be done to minimize the impact?
There are ways customers can minimize the effect of momentary interruptions on voltage-sensitive devices or equipment. If you're a business customer, our service representatives can provide information about UPS equipment-Uninterrupted Power Supplies and about CVTs (Constant Voltage Transformers) which are used in many commercial and industrial applications to maintain service and voltage levels.

We are very concerned about power interruptions of any length - and are committed to providing safe, reliable electric service. When power is interrupted, be assured that our crews are dispatched quickly to safely restore electric power to our customers.

How Common are Momentary Outages?
The national average for momentary service interruptions is five times per customer per year. In parts of the country where lightning strikes are more common, momentary outages are more frequent. Our system is designed and maintained to help minimize the frequency of momentary outages.

Important -- Generator Use
If you plan to use a generator, follow the manufacturer's operating instructions. Improper use of a generator can be life-threatening to you and to utility crews. Portable generators typically provide power to devices plugged directly into the unit. They must not be wired directly to a building without a professionally-installed transfer switch. This switch prevents the generator from "backfeeding" power to your wiring and to Stoughton Utilities' system once power is restored - an extremely dangerous condition.

We're Working to Maintain a Safe and Reliable System
More than 25,000 individual poles, wires, and pieces of equipment make up our 250-mile electric distribution system. Maintaining a system where the total length is equal to a trip to Chicago and back is a huge challenge. In order to provide safe, reliable service to our customers, every year portions of the system are replaced, rebuilt or repaired.

First... We prioritize.
Life threatening or hazardous conditions come first. If a power line has fallen on a street or on a car, for example, we direct our attention to those electric hazards first.

Next... We fix large outages.
We repair the larger main lines and major equipment to return electric power to the largest number of customers efficiently.

Then... We repair small, isolated outages.
This may require our crews to drive many mile throughout our rural territory to get to each section of line that requires small repairs.

Finally... We fix secondary lines and neighborhood equipment.
During a major wind storm, for example, we may have dozens of customers that have had branches fall on the line from the pole to their home. We'll respond to your home as quickly as possible to do an individual assessment of your damages, however this may take some time.

Always... We appreciate your patience.
We can't always tell you exactly when your electricity will be back on, but restoring your energy safely and efficiently is our top priority. Please know that if your power is out, our staff is actively working to get it restored.

Where's the Crew?
You may notice that a crew working in your neighborhood leaves your area before your power is restored. That's because several fixes at various locations may need to happen before your power returns. In some cases, a crew will need to shut down damaged or hazardous equipment that may result in power outages to additional homes or businesses. Our employee's first priority is to make the situation safe for everyone.