Check your circuit breakers. If they have tripped, reset them and see if the power comes back on. If resetting the breakers does not return power, call OTEC’s 24-hour outage hotline at 1-866-430-4265 or text "outage" to 541-406-6980. OTEC crews are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. We take your need for electricity seriously.
Power Outage Tips
Outage Center > Power Outage Tips
Oregon Trail Electric Co-op's Outage Center provides Power Outage Tips to help you - our member-owners - stay safe and prepared, including guidance on reporting outages, using backup power safely, and maintaining emergency supplies.
How to Respond to an Outage
Outage Procedure Checklist
- Call 1-866-430-4265 or text 541-406-6980 to report a power outage. In instances with large call volume or after hours, you may reach our partners at the Cooperative Response Center to allow for the fastest response time.
- In the event of a downed power line, stay at least 50 feet away and keep everyone as far away as you can. Never attempt to move or touch a downed line or anything in contact with a downed line. Call OTEC or 911 immediately.
- Never plug a portable home electric generator into a wall outlet. The backfeed of electricity could fatally injure our servicemen through your home’s electrical system.
- Unplugging appliances or turning off breakers during a prolonged power outage protects your devices from potential power surges when electricity is restored. After power is restored, turn them back on individually, spacing them over 15-minute intervals.
- If some of your lights appear to be dim when power is restored, please call OTEC at 1-866-430-4264.
Power Outage Supplies Kit
Make sure your home is equipped with a power outage kit. The kit should include the following items:
- An oil or battery-powered lamp or lantern, a flashlight, and extra batteries.
- Candles and matches. Use candles on a flat, stable, non-flammable surface.
- A battery-powered radio.
- Easily accessible emergency phone numbers for your utility, doctor, fire, and police.
- A cell phone, or a telephone connected directly to the jack. Cordless phones and phones with answering machines rely on electricity to operate.
- A first-aid kit and prescription medications. If the outage is caused by bad weather, realize that road travel may not be possible for several days.
- Extra blankets, sleeping bags, and warm clothes. If you are without heat, close off one room to live in and wear extra layers of clothes.
- Clean drinking water. Have at least one gallon of fresh water available for each person in your home per day.
- A manual can opener and non-perishable food. A camp stove and fuel may be handy, but be sure to use them outdoors.
- A cooler for storing frequently used foods. Food will keep for several hours in a closed, full refrigerator and up to two days in a closed, full freezer.
- Firewood if you have a fireplace or woodstove.
- Do not use gas appliances (such as gas-powered generators) for indoor heating if they are not designed for this purpose – carbon monoxide poisoning can occur when gas is burned in enclosed spaces.